


Lark and the Terrible, Horrible, NO GOOD, VERY BAD Crush

by SpacePancake



Series: Dndads and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Extended Family (collection) [3]
Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Other, in a shocking turn of events lark is alloace and sparrow is aroace, lark centric bc he’s an attention seeking asshole, lark: this feeling... are they my nemesis??, no planning out the plot we die like men, paeden is here all safe and sound fuck anthony, so if anything fucks with this in canon? i legit do not care. fuck you and fuck canon, the enemies to ??? au that no one asked for and the author has no idea what direction to take it in, the plot of this fic was planned before episode 40, the sons have a discord server, their texting styles are inconsistent too, we’re playing fast and loose with characterisation, when i say slowburn i Mean It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 93,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpacePancake/pseuds/SpacePancake
Summary: Halfway through the school year, a new kid joins the school. Lark has them marked as an enemy from day one and is determined to being them down, no matter what it takes. The other sons aren’t sure what Lark is feeling is ‘hate’, but he can’t feel anything but contempt for everyone but his family, right?// Don’t worry about this being ‘part three’ of the series, there’s no real reason to read the other stuff it’s just about the connected universe, luv //
Relationships: all the sons are tight, lark oak/oc
Series: Dndads and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Extended Family (collection) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895239
Comments: 240
Kudos: 135
Collections: Long DnDads Fanfics, Son-Centric Fanfics, Twin-Centric Fanfics





	1. oh i can’t NOT hate them

**Author's Note:**

> don’t question why paeden is here, he just is. fuck you.
> 
> ages:  
> paeden — 13  
> lark and sparrow — 16  
> nick — 17  
> grant and tj — 18
> 
> they’re in different years but have the same lunch period because I saw a quora answer that said it could work out somehow
> 
> finch is non-binary but gendered slang word like dude, bro, etc. are okay to use 
> 
> USERNAMES:  
> lark - POWER  
> sparrow - lovewolf  
> paeden - Eye Of The Tiger  
> nick - thisisthedollarstore  
> grant - miku stan on main  
> tj jr - teejay

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Monday 17:07

**POWER:** If I murder somebody, will you guys act as my alibi 

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I’ve got your back!

**thisisthedollarstore:** huh

**lovewolf:** why are we murdering people? :(

**POWER:** Finch.

**lovewolf:** _ oh _

**thisisthedollarstore:** huh

**miku stan on main:** Did they hurt you or something??

**POWER:** No one could hurt me if they tried

**miku stan on main:** so like?

**POWER:** Their name is  _ finch!!! _

**thisisthedollarstore:** am i like on a bad trip or something or is this as incoherent as i think it is

**miku stan on main:** I don’t get it either

**POWER:** sparrow and me have been the only people with bird names in the entire school in every single school we’ve been in

**POWER:** we’re like, the weird bird name guys!

**POWER:** and now this finch person is going to join halfway through the year and become part of our sacred bird name clique and ruin everything???

**thisisthedollarstore:** dude what

**miku stan on main:** i-

**lovewolf:** the more the merrier! :D!

**POWER:** why aren’t you upset about this?? bird names are  _ our  _ thing!

**lovewolf:** there’s a lot of people with bird names though! It’s cool that we met someone else! We were bound to meet someone eventually!

**POWER:** ughhhhhhhhh

**teejay:** What is happening…

**POWER:** do you think finch picked finch as their name to deliberately fuck with me??

**Eye Of The Tiger:** ooooh makes sense

**teejay:** Do I think that someone who was called Finch before they joined your year chose their name  _ precognitively _ to fuck with you? 

**POWER:** yeah!!!

**thisisthedollarstore:** the universe  _ is  _ weird, man

**Eye Of The Tiger:** sounds pretty plausible to me, i don’t know

**teejay:** I really don’t think that’s what happened.

**miku stan on main:** yeah that’s stupid

**POWER:** what if I changed  _ my  _ name?

**thisisthedollarstore:** ?

**POWER:** I could make  _ my  _ name a not-bird name so we wouldn’t match

**lovewolf:** but then we wouldn’t match!! :’(

**POWER:** change your name with me then

**lovewolf:** I like my name!!

**POWER:** I could force finch to change their name maybe

**teejay:** What if you didn’t do that?

**miku stan on main:** yeah consider this: don’t.

**Eye Of The Tiger:** fight them and the loser changes their name!!!!

**POWER:** YES

**teejay:** no??????

**thisisthedollarstore:** this place is wild man

**miku stan on main:** I hate it here.

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Monday 17:54

**POWER:** okay but another thing

**miku stan on main:** fuck

**POWER:** they think they’re so fucking cool?? they’re all leather jackets and chains and swagger and ‘I swear im going to set this shithole building on fire if another fucker misgenders me’ like 

**teejay:** did nick get held back a year or something

**thisisthedollarstore:** yeah i wanna hang with them more than hate them honestly 

**miku stan on main:** wait were you talking to them??

**POWER:** in passing

**lovewolf:** you started talking when I left for drama club and you were still talking when I got back

**miku stan on main:** how long is drama club again?

**lovewolf:** like an hour?

**teejay:** oh my god

**miku stan on main:** ‘in passing’???

**thisisthedollarstore:** dude

**Eye Of The Tiger:** that seems like it’s explicitly not just in passing

**POWER:** I had to gather intel???

**POWER:** they’re sitting with us at lunch tomorrow btw

**teejay:** HUH

**miku stan on main:** god how I regret having the same lunch period as all of you right now

**thisisthedollarstore:** you invited the person you supposedly hate to lunch tomorrow? 

**POWER:** I really don’t get what’s so hard to understand about gathering intel??

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I’m totally on the same page as you

**POWER:** paeden is the only one who understands me anymore

**miku stan on main:** not a good thing?

**Eye Of The Tiger:** hey!

**miku stan on main:** i’m allowed to say that, you’re almost my brother

**Eye Of The Tiger:** well if we’re talking about our places in the family tree, my man…

**miku stan on main:** _ don’t. _

teejay > miku stan on main

Tuesday 2:46

**teejay:** you okay??

**miku stan on main:** yeah why

**teejay:** your spotify is connected to your discord account

**miku stan on main:** oh yeah

**teejay:** baby shark at 2 am huh

**miku stan on main:** i’m going through some stuff

**teejay:** clearly yeah

**teejay:** if you ever want to talk about it, i’m here. 

**miku stan on main:** thanks but i’m good!

**miku stan on main:** just vibing

**teejay:** cool but if you’re ever not good you can talk to me anytime

**miku stan on main:** i will, i will

**teejay:** cool, night! get some sleep!!

**miku stan on main:** i’ll try my best

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Tuesday 18:32

**miku stan on main:** we can see you’re online lark

**POWER:** :/

**miku stan on main:** how was detention you gremlin 

**teejay:** Did you  _ have  _ to punch them??

**thisisthedollarstore:** I got there after the fight started, what even happened

**POWER:** didn’t you hear what they said??

**miku stan on main:** no??

**teejay:** no

**lovewolf:** also no!

**POWER:** they said ‘nice shirt’

**POWER:** asshole

**teejay:** I wish I could understand anything you say

**thisisthedollarstore:** I wish I could understand anything

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I wish I could understand 

**miku stan on main:** I wish I could

**lovewolf:** I wish <3!!!

**POWER:** they said it  _ sarcastically,  _ obviously??

**teejay:** I don’t think they did?

**POWER:** why else would they say it???

**miku stan on main:** I know my brain usually tells me otherwise but sometimes people are nice

**POWER:** finch isn’t  _ nice,  _ finch is  _ finch _

**teejay:** uh huh

**Eye Of The Tiger:** did you win?

**POWER:** we were pulled apart before I could beat them unconscious 

**miku stan on main:** jesus

**POWER:** no, finch, but that dude’s definitely on the list

**teejay:** jesus christ is on your list of people to fight??

**POWER:** if he’s real, yeah

**POWER:** I have figures from all recorded religions that work with my plans on the list just in case

**miku stan on main:** no one ask for any sort of clarification 

**thisisthedollarstore:** kudos to finch honestly, dude was fighting back just as hard

**POWER:** yeah it was cool

**teejay:** cool?

**miku stan on main:** cool…

**Eye Of The Tiger:** you should set up a fighting club at your school

**teejay:** there’s already a boxing club, I think

**Eye Of The Tiger:** no like, just a club where you beat the shit out of each other

**Eye Of The Tiger:** and people bet on you

**Eye Of The Tiger:** real underground fight club shit

**thisisthedollarstore:** you’re one weird kid

**thisisthedollarstore:** i vibe with it

Finch > POWER 19:01

**finch:** yo this is finch, sparrow gave me your username 

**POWER:** yeah I can read

**POWER:** why does  _ sparrow  _ have your username??

**finch:** we talked during art after all that

**finch:** he said we bonded spiritually or something

**finch:** idk

**finch:** anyway

**POWER:** anyway what

**finch:** anyway you jumped over the table to tackle me to the ground

**finch:** loving the energy honestly but why

**POWER:** you’re very punchable

**finch:** love that for me

**finch:** did I piss you off?? I thought we were chill

**POWER:** we’re chill

**finch:** you attacked me?

**POWER:** we’re chill

**finch:** k

**finch:** meet me after school tomorrow 

**POWER:** what

**finch:** meet me after school tomorrow by the football field

**POWER:** fuck you

**finch:** haha I know you willlll

**POWER:** FUCK YOU

**POWER:** murderer vibes

**finch:** if anyone has murderer vibes it’s you

**POWER:** no, that’s grant

**finch:** what?

**POWER:** what

**finch:** alright

**finch:** do it or you’re a coward

**POWER:** fuuuuuuck yooooouuuuu

**finch:** ;)

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Tuesday 19:13

**POWER:** tomorrow I’m killing them

**miku stan on main:** only kill them a little

**POWER:** k

**teejay:** I can’t even tell when you’re serious anymore but don’t murder people

**POWER:** worked for us back in faerun

**Eye Of The Tiger:** he’s not wrong

**teejay:** no murder

**miku stan on main:** unless it’s justified 

**teejay:** grant???

**miku stan on main:** sorry

**miku stan on main:** no murder. periodt

**lovewolf:** please don’t resort to murder :(

**POWER:** we’ll see!!!

**miku stan on main:** gay fear

  
  



	2. after school murderer vibes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lark meets Finch after school. Spoilers: Finch doesn’t murder him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> USERNAMES  
> lark - POWER  
> sparrow - lovewolf  
> tj - teejay  
> nick - thisisthedollarstore  
> grant - miku stan on main
> 
> some prose this chapter~

lovewolf > POWER 15:11 

**lovewolf:** i’ve been waiting tennnnnn minutes

 **lovewolf:** where are you

 **lovewolf:** are you dead? I’ll look into necromancy 

**POWER:** yeah about that

**lovewolf:** …necromancy?

**POWER:** I need you to make up a reason for me staying in school late that father will believe

**lovewolf:** are you going to set a fire again??

**POWER:** no

 **POWER:** well, I don’t know actually 

**lovewolf:** lark, my beloved brother, please explain

**POWER:** i’m meeting with finch but they won’t say why

 **POWER:** don’t tell anyone, just cover for me?

**lovewolf:** what do you want me to tell riri??

**POWER:** anything, you’re the better liar 

**lovewolf:** true

 **lovewolf:** I’ll do it on two conditions

**POWER:** present your offer

**lovewolf:** tell me everything afterwards

**POWER:** easy, okay

**lovewolf:** and tell me that you love me :D!

**POWER:** ughhhhhhhhhhh

 **POWER:** I love you and how easily father believes your lies

**lovewolf:** I love you too!

 **lovewolf:** I’ll cover for you then. I can get you two and a half hours maybe

**POWER:** I can work with that

**lovewolf:** so they just asked you to meet them alone without any explanation as to why??

**POWER:** yeah

**lovewolf:** murderer vibes

**POWER:** right???

**lovewolf:** don’t die :D!!

**POWER:** you know well that I can’t 

Wednesday 15:14 — outside the football field 

Lark wasn’t worried. ‘Nervous’ wasn’t something either Oak twin ever did. They had been prepared to face an eldritch god once, so another kid didn’t _scare_ him. Still, he was anticipating the most unfavourable of the favourable. Worst case scenario? Probably murder. Finch being a creature from another realm was also a strong contender. It could possibly be both? Honestly, if it _was_ either, Lark would feel more justified than anything.

There was something else underneath that he couldn’t quite identify. He was… _looking forward_ to seeing Finch. Did he really want to fight them _that_ badly? Did he _want_ to be angry again? Maybe the mystery of what Finch wanted to do with him was too intriguing to _not_ feel excited about. _Excited?_ Was he _excited_ to see Finch? 

It wasn’t too much longer before Finch strolled up, their hands in the pockets of their ill-fitting leather jacket. Lark hadn’t seen them all day. None of their classes had overlapped and they hadn’t shown up at lunch. 

A plaid skirt over loose black jeans by laws of the universe shouldn’t work together whatsoever, which made the fact that Finch was absolutely pulling the look off _infuriating_. They were such a fucking try-hard, Lark had never met anyone who was so casually obnoxious before. It was seriously a talent.

“Hey.” Finch greeted casually.

“Hey.” Lark returned bitterly.

Finch didn’t stop when they reached Lark, and simply continued walking past him. 

“What are we doing?” Lark asking, not following.

“Come find out.” 

Lark could _hear_ the smirk in their voice. There was nothing left in him but burning, burning rage now. _“Come find out.”_ What a dick.

Lark followed.

Approximately a minute passed with no words exchanged between them before Lark asked “Do we have to _walk?_ It’s so slooow.”

“I’m walking.” Finch replied. “If you know the way then you can run ahead and I’ll catch up.”

Lark let Finch pass him before putting his angry energy into pushing his arms up in the air and then bringing them back down to get a tight hold of his hair. The walk continued with angry dynamic wordless exclamations behind Finch’s back. It helped him feel a _smidge_ better. Moving around was the only way Lark knew to keep himself dying of absolute boredom. 

They were moving through the forest behind the school. Suspicious definitely, but Lark was too worked up to care. What was he going to do? Leave and give himself the reputation of a scaredy-cat? No damn way.

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 2 

Wednesday 15:24 

**teejay:** @POWER @lovewolf this is a call out post for twin bullshit

 **teejay:** lark why is sparrow lying about you having detention

**POWER:** what

**teejay:** my dad was talking to your’s when sparrow told him about you having detention 

**teejay:** I _know_ you don’t have detention 

**teejay:** are you setting another fire?

**POWER:** I’ll tell you later if I don’t get murdered

**teejay:**???

 **teejay:** sparrow?

**lovewolf:** I’m sworn to secrecy :D!

**teejay:** I’m concerned but I’m not a snitch ig

**miku stan on main:** don’t die

**thisisthedollarstore:** lmao

Wednesday 15:46 — abandoned junk yard 

Lark was too busy taking in the sight of rusted cars stretching as far as he could see to notice Finch slipping away. Just a moment after he _did_ notice, Finch returned with a baseball bat in hand.

He knew it. Finch had brought him to somewhere no one would ever look so they could smash his brains in. Vindication was so satisfying.

Finch didn’t make a swing for him. Wordlessly, they passed the bat to Lark. Lark blinked at it.

Finch didn’t move. 

Lark slowly reached out and took the bat. It was only then that he noticed the second bat in Finch’s other hand.

Lark didn’t say anything when Finch started walking again, just followed until they stopped in front of a surprisingly pristine looking car. Finch reached into their pocket and dug out their phone. Their finger moved across the screen until they found what they were looking for and it was left hovering slightly above the phone, ready to press down.

They looked to Lark. “You’ve got like, _all_ this pent up aggressive energy inside you itching to get out. It radiates off you. You need a way to get it out that _isn’t_ attacking me at lunch or doing some mediation or karate or any other bullshit that won’t work. So, like…”

They pressed their screen and some loud punk rock starting blaring from the speaker of their phone. They casually tossed the phone to the soft grass beside them, stepped forward, and swung the bat down onto the car’s front window.

The glass shattered with a beautifully satisfying crashing noise and rained down onto the leather seats. Lark grinned wide and threw off his schoolbag.

He didn’t hesitate to join in, and together they laid waste to the poor car. Each beat of the music’s percussion came another hammering from the bats. Glass shattered, metal dented, Lark laughed, Finch laughed.

Finch had a nice laugh, Sparrow noted, before discarding that information as quickly as it had come.

It was like Finch had said, he had all this pent up energy inside and to have such a satisfying physical release for it was… _exhilarating_. 

They continued onto a second car. Breaking the windows… smashing the hood… Nothing was safe. After a short while, Finch stepped away, throwing aside their bat and sitting themselves on the roof of a car nearby, but Lark continued. He smashed and smashed and smashed until he was left panting and dripping with sweat. 

When Lark approached Finch, they laid down across the roof they’d been sitting down. Lark let his bat drop and followed suit, still red-faced and breathing quickly.

“How was that?” Finch asked, music still blaring from their phone on the ground.

Lark couldn’t lie. _“Amazing.”_

Finch laughed lightly. “Thought you’d like it.”

Lark couldn’t deny that he’d enjoyed it, but he also wasn’t going to give into the enemy so easily.

“I still want to fight you, you know.”

“So let’s do it.”

Lark sat up suddenly and looked down at Finch. “What?”

“Let’s fight. There’s no one to stop us here.” Finch replied, before slowly pushing themselves to a sitting position.

Lark didn’t know how to respond for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

Finch jumped down from the car and walked over to their phone so they could scoop it up off the ground. They paused the music and looked to Lark as he jumped down and approached.

“Rule one,” Finch began, putting their phone down more carefully than earlier on the hood of a car, “No weapons.”

From their pocket they took out a single small switchblade knife and set it down beside their phone.

Lark took out his own phone and set it beside Finch’s, before he set to work on ridding himself of his own knives. It took a while to pull every single one out of its hiding place, and he ended up with a stacked pile of 16 different knives on the car’s hood.

Finch didn’t say anything about the amount of knives he had on him, but Lark caught their gaze lingering on the pile before they went looking for a clearing.

They found a small clearing in the junkyard, covered in grass. After a quick check for broken glass or scrap metal on the ground, they both decided it was the best place.

“Rule two then: the fight ends when you can pin your opponent to the ground for three seconds.” Finch said.

“Not knockout?” Lark asked.

“Do _you_ want to be the one dragging my concussed ass back to the school?”

Lark wanted to point out that if he knocked out Finch he would more likely just leave them there, but figured arguing more would just delay the fight.

“Okay, let’s do it then.”

Finch raised their arms up into a defensive stance, but didn’t make a move toward Lark. Instead, they opened one of their fists and held their palm upward, crooking their index finger in a ‘come here’ gesture.

There was that rage again. Twisting Lark’s stomach and sending his heart beating wildly as fire burst through his veins. He narrowed his eyes, bared his teeth, and barrelled forward.

He tried to push his opponent’s chest, but Finch grabbed his arm and spun him sideways before pushing down on his shoulder hard enough to send him crashing to his knees.

Before Finch could make a move, Lark grabbed one of their legs and pulled until Finch lost their balance and came falling down on their back.

Lark moved up to a crouch so as to jump onto Finch’s chest, but Finch struck first, recoiling back a leg and striking forward to catch Lark’s face with their foot.

The hard hit sent Lark to the ground again, significantly more dazed this time. He hadn’t even made a start on getting up before Finch was sitting on their stomach, leaning forward and pressing their hands down on his upper arms. Lark felt his breath hitch.

He struggled against their hold, but couldn’t make a shred of progress. He wasn’t strong enough to fight against the weight pushing him down and he couldn’t do much more with his hands than uselessly slap at Finch’s forearms.

“One.” Finch smiled.

No way. It was too soon for the fight to be over. He couldn’t be beaten so pathetically. He tried, desperately, to scratch at Finch’s arms with his rather blunt nails, but Finch was left unperturbed.

“Two.”

Lark’s eyes widened as it all set it properly. He was going to _lose_.

To this stupid punk idiot.

_It couldn’t be._

There was a sort of shine in Finch’s eyes when they finished their count. “Three.”

Their eye contact with Lark lingered a moment longer before they chuckled and rolled off to sit onto the grass beside him.

“Good game.” They offered.

Lark sat up rather slowly and stared down at his hands. “You… won.”

“Lucky strike is all.” Lark heard the fabric of their clothes shift as they shrugged. “If you had gotten up sooner it could’ve—“

“You won.” Lark repeated, looking up.

“Yeah, I…” From Lark’s peripheral vision, he caught Finch looking over at him. “Are you okay? Did I kick you too hard? Should I look for a concussion or something? What do concussions look like, some sort of eye thing, right?”

Lark got to his feet, Finch followed suit hurriedly.

“I…” Lark began, but couldn’t find the words. “I gotta go.”

“What?”

“Gotta go!” Lark said again, before he simply _ran_. He ran and ran and ran, ignoring Finch’s yells until they faded completely into the distance, back along the path to the school without stopping.

He reached the school at long last, completely out of breath, collapsing onto the steps outside to wait for his father’s arrival. It took a few solid minutes for his panicky brain to calm down enough for him to realise he’d left everything back at the junkyard. His schoolbag, his phone, his knives…

It didn’t matter.

When his dad’s car pulled up, Lark practically marched towards it, slamming the door behind him as he jumped inside. His father’s questions washed over him completely. Something about detention, some concern for the mark on his face, other _useless_ questions. Lark crossed his arms and huffed, looking out the window. His dad gave up eventually, and started driving. 

When he got home he stormed upstairs to his bedroom, ignoring whatever his mom was trying to say to him in greeting and falling onto his bed. He pressed his face hard into his pillow. 

Shortly after his return home, Sparrow came into their shared room and placed an ice pack and one of their mom’s healing crystals beside him.

He pointedly ignored Sparrow’s talking until Sparrow stopped trying and left the room.

He also ignored the ice pack but held the healing crystal tight in his fist and close to his chest.

He didn’t know _what_ he was feeling, but holding the crystal helped. He was starting to process sound again. Footsteps downstairs, muffled chatter, the clinking and clanking of cooking that wafted a smell up to his room.

Lark didn’t want a weirder discussion about feelings and communication than the one he was _going_ to get, so he decided to get out of bed. He had just opened his bedroom door when the doorbell cut across the soft mix of domestic sounds drifting throughout the house. Lark peered through the bannister at the hall downstairs as his dad went to open the door. 

The angle he was sitting at made it impossible to see who was at the door, but Lark recognised them by their voice instantly.

“Uh, hi. Is Lark home? He left some stuff at school so I thought I’d return them.”

Lark didn’t catch his father’s reply. He was too busy dying. Dead! He was literally dead! Finch had killed him and now he was a dead corpse on the upstairs carpet for Sparrow to find and cry over. Finch would be personally responsible for his twin brother’s irreversible trauma, what an ass.

There was only _one_ thing worse than Finch though, and that was his dad talking to Finch. He had to stop him before he started talking about rocks. He only had so much pride left now, he didn’t need his dad burning through it all in one conversation.

He smacked his head once or twice to get himself into focus mode and narrowed his eyes. He had a mission now. He needed to get rid of Finch as quickly as possible.

“So, are you a friend of Lark’s?”

There was no time to delay.


	3. teens being awkward on main

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they’re teens,,, they’re awkward,,, fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lark - POWER  
> sparrow - lovewolf  
> grant - miku stan on main  
> paeden - Eye Of The Tiger  
> TJ - teejay  
> nick - thisisthedollarstore

finch > lovewolf 17:32

**finch:** hey

**lovewolf:** *waits for you to continue*

**finch:** did you just asterisks roleplay

**finch:** wouldn’t expect any less actually

**finch:** lark left his stuff here but I don’t think he wants to talk to me right now, can I give this to you tomorrow morning or something?

**lovewolf:** where do you live

**finch:** wh

**lovewolf:** not in a murder way or anything! i’m devoted to the path of peace and harmony ! :D!

**lovewolf:** it’s just that if you live close by I can grab it from you and also ask you what you did to upset my beloved brother in person :)!

**finch:** did anyone ever tell you that you’re somehow the scarier twin?

**finch:** but I have faith that my dog will protect me if you attack me so fuck it. [location]

**lovewolf:** oh!! you live super close!

**finch:** yeah?

**lovewolf:** yeah!! like legitimately a seven minute walk away

**finch:** oh hey if it’s that short a walk, I can just come to you

**lovewolf:** oh?

**finch:** yeah, I’d rather do that than make you come all the way here

**lovewolf:** okay!! here you go: [location]

**finch:** oh shit wait

**finch:** I don’t want to show up if it’ll upset lark

**lovewolf:** it’s cool, lark is conserving his energy right now so he most likely will not even notice your arrival

**finch:** okay chill, i’ll be over in a bit

**lovewolf:** byeeee! *waves goodbye*

**finch:** *waves goodbye back*

Wednesday 17:58 — the Oak-Garcia household

It took a moment for Lark to spur himself into action. By the time he had raced down the stairs, two at a time, his dad had already hit the punchline of his joke.

“— and that’s why I never take things for  _ granite. _ ”

Lark physically cringed as the words hit him like a sledgehammer. He was… so lame... Lark had been too late to stop him. What was Finch going to think of him now? He could deal with being the ‘weird kid’ but his father was just on a whole other level of  _ no. _

Another step forward would likely have Finch spot him and shift the conversation, but why bother anymore? The worst case scenario had already played out.

Then he heard it. Finch’s  _ laugh. _

Finch was laughing at a dad joke, seemingly genuinely. He was… immune? Impossible. No one could have that much power…

Lark stepped forward into Finch’s line of sight, and their eyes jumped to him immediately.

“Oh,” Finch said, “Sparrow said you wouldn’t be up and about.”

“Sparrow?” Lark repeated, eyebrows furrowing. He was going to  _ get  _ his brother later for whatever this was. 

“Your friend Finch here said you left your bag at school after detention.” His father said. “Now, what do you say to them for returning it to you?”

_ Ugh.  _ Still talking to him like he was eight.

“Thanks…” Lark muttered about as quietly as he could manage while still remaining audible, and held out his hand.

Finch stalled for a moment before awkwardly stretching out their arm and dropping the handle of the bag into Lark’s waiting palm. “No problem.” They said as Lark slowly brought the bag down to his side.

His dad was looking between the two of them like he was watching a table tennis match. “I’ll just leave you kids to talk. Don’t want to get in the way of you two cool cats and your conversation.”

Lark looked at his father in horror before he replied. “Okay.”

When his dad left the hallway, Finch awkwardly shuffled their feet and looked past Lark. “Your dad’s cool.”

“No he’s not.”

“Okay.”

Lark crossed his arms, Finch looked back to him and maintained eye contact. Neither of them said anything for a while.

Finch sighed. “Am I supposed to feel bad that I beat you? I  _ told  _ you it was just luck.”

“No.”

“Then what do you  _ want  _ me to do?” Finch asked. “I thought we were having fun.”

“I was… I  _ was  _ having fun.” Lark dropped his gaze, and brought his arms closer to his chest.

Finch tapped their fingers against their jeans a few times. “I get it if you don’t know why you’re feeling angry sometimes — been there, okay? But you’ve gotta at least tell me whether you want me to still speak to you or whether you want to never see me again.”

“I still want to talk to you.” Lark admitted. “I liked smashing cars with you.”

“Okay,” Finch replied, “Chill. I can work with that then.” 

“My knives didn’t scare you?” Lark asked with a smile, holding up his bag a little.

Finch matched his smile and shrugged. “Nah, your brother’s way scarier.”

“He won’t be once I kill him in cold blood.” Lark replied. “So, uh, do you want a lift back home? My father could-“

“ _ No.”  _ Finch said too suddenly, eyes wide. The moment of panic was brief though, slipping away quick enough that Lark wasn’t even sure it had happened. “I mean, it’s all good, you know? Short walk, not worth the drive.”

Lark was still processing the brief loss of Finch’s composure. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Finch returned.

“Okay.” Lark said again and closed the door in their face.

_ Brother hunting time. _

POWER > lovewolf 18:16

**POWER:** okay where are you

**lovewolf:** :)

**POWER:** stop hiding like a COWARD let me fight you

**lovewolf:** the path of violence is never the right way in life (o˘◡˘o)

**POWER:** >:(

**lovewolf:** ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

**POWER:** okay I won’t fight you if you send me the texts finch sent you

**lovewolf:** mmmmmmm shouldn’t private messages be confidential~?

**POWER:** my brother,

**lovewolf:** okee

**lovewolf:** [screenshots]

**POWER:** did you really think I wouldn’t see him or was this a set up??

**lovewolf:** I didn’t think you’d get up! I only hid when I heard you coming downstairs

**lovewolf:** you KNOW i would never lie to you (´• ω •`)

**POWER:** hmmmm

**POWER:** okay, I believe you

**lovewolf:** yaaaaaaaay 

**lovewolf:** now fulfill your bargain and tell to me a story of lark and finch

**POWER:** tch okay, meet me in the bedroom

**POWER:** bring snacks

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Wednesday 19:03

**thisisthedollarstore:** @POWER so did you die or what little dude

**POWER:** I'm not little??

**thisisthedollarstore:** lmao

**teejay:** what happened?

**Eye Of The Tiger:** did you have to kill someone??

**POWER:** well,

**miku stan on main:** oh damn,  _ did  _ you???

**POWER:** I cannot say 

**POWER:** today shall be a secret so that all of you will die in agonising pain over trying to solve the mystery

**teejay:** as long as you aren’t hurt I think i’m good

**miku stan on main:** same

**thisisthedollarstore:** lol

**POWER:** dang

**lovewolf:** it’s okay, brother :) I think your secret is very cool and mysterious :D!

**POWER:** you know what it is though?

**lovewolf:** I was just trying to help :(

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Thursday 9:12

**thisisthedollarstore:** i don’t know if we’re still on the whole hating finch train thing but im digging whatever look they’re going for today

**lovewolf:** I haven’t seen them yet, what are they wearing?

**thisisthedollarstore:** theyre just not wearing the left side of their jacket at all and like all the pins are on the right side and his left shoe is  _ also  _ untied it’s like some cool alternative nonconformist vibe

**teejay:** I  _ beg  _ you to use punctuation when texting that much

**thisisthedollarstore:** dont kill my vibe man

POWER > finch 9:15

**POWER:** nick is raving about your new look on main 

**finch:** ???

**POWER:** in a good way

**finch:** i’m wearing the same thing as always tho? lmao

**POWER:** the like, only wearing the right side of your clothes propely thing

**finch:** oh dang I didn’t notice

**finch:** I’ll fix it

**POWER:** you didn’t notice you weren’t wearing the left side of your jacket???

**finch:** no

**POWER:** … k

**finch:** oop teacher walking around the classroom gotta hide the phone

**POWER:** cool talk later ig

POWER > finch 11:13

**POWER:** okay I just passed by you in the hall

**finch:** wow small world, what are the chances

**POWER:** haha shut up

**POWER:** you said earlier you were going to ‘fix’ your jacket only being on your right arm and then you didn’t?

**finch:** oh lmao

**finch:** guess I forgot

**POWER:** okay goldfish

**finch:** blub blub dig aquarium gravel eat fish flakes bubble bubble gills

**POWER:** scaley energy

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Thursday 13:12

**thisisthedollarstore:** date to be confirmed but I just got a text confirming my first gig or whatever

**teejay:** oh congrats!!

**miku stan on main:** awesome!

**lovewolf:** blessed be this day~

**POWER:** nice

**Eye Of The Tiger:** success!!!

**miku stan on main:** how are you sneaking onto your phone in baby school

**Eye Of The Tiger:** hahahahaha a man has his ways… a man has his ways…

**thisisthedollarstore:** so like, you guys want to come whenever it’s on or is that kinda lame?

**teejay:** of course we’ll come

**miku stan on main:** you think we wouldn’t want to support you?

**lovewolf:** the vibes will be  _ immaculate  _

**POWER:** can I smash a guitar afterwards?

**thisisthedollarstore:** haha nice

**thisisthedollarstore:** and uh i don’t think I can really afford breaking guitars yet that’s big league stuff

**Eye Of The Tiger:** if you need someone to sabotage anyone else playing to make you sound better by comparison… you know where to find me ;)

**thisisthedollarstore:** i think im good

**Eye Of The Tiger:** alright, my man, but the offer’s still on the table if you ever need it 

**thisisthedollarstore:** yo lark you can invite your theyfriend after their sick ass fashion today if you want 

**POWER:** WHAT

**thisisthedollarstore:** is datemate better? partner sounds like an old person thing lmao

**POWER: WHAT**

  
  



	4. everyone lies about their feelings for an entire chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haha... fuck-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me @ all these bitches: maybe if you stanned telling the truth you all wouldn’t be so sad right now
> 
> more people are lying and more things are being lied about than the ones in the spotlight~
> 
> this chapter feels more messy than usual? but fuck it

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Thursday 13:15

**POWER:** explain

**thisisthedollarstore:** are you not like into them or something? my b

**POWER:** whyyyyyyy would you think that? they’re my enemy?

**thisisthedollarstore:** well its just like sparrows your favourite person but you fight with them all the time so ig i just assumed that fighting one person in particular was how you showed affection or something 

**POWER:** okay even if that were true

**POWER:** which it’s NOT

**POWER:** that doesn’t mean I like them in  _ that  _ way

**POWER:** sparrow’s the lovewolf,  _ I’m  _ the fighty one. They’re going to be the one that falls for all that stupid, romance stuff

**lovewolf:** actually, I have no interest in romance at all!

**lovewolf:** I feel love for everyone equally and need not conform to an amatonormative society to find my way in life

**miku stan on main:** a what society

**POWER:** anyway we’re  _ friends _

**teejay:** you’re friends now?

**POWER:** maybe

**POWER:** we’re on neutral terms as of now

**POWER:** but I will not hesitate to attack should I need to

**thisisthedollarstore:** lmao okay

**thisisthedollarstore:** is everyone coming for the jam sesh tomorrow or nah

**teejay:** paeden and I aren’t 

**Eye Of The Tiger:** it’s Paeden week in the Stampler household, baby~

**Eye Of The Tiger:** call me Paeden Stampler, professional businessman…

**teejay:** right.

**teejay:** anyway we’re apparently having a movie day after school or something something so we’re not coming

**thisisthedollarstore:** it’s chill

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Friday 8:56

**thisisthedollarstore:** lark: I do not have romantic feelings for finch finch: do you want to do my makeup? lark: completely unable to move

**POWER:** touching someone’s face is  _ weird _ , okay? I wouldn’t do it for you either

**lovewolf:** you touch people’s faces when you punch them :D!

**POWER:** that’s different 

**teejay:** sounds like I missed out on a story?

**POWER:** ughh nothing actually happened

**POWER:** finch was doing that half thing they were doing yesterday but with their make-up? so I brought it up when me, nick and sparrow walked into school this morning and they were like “oh, I didn’t notice. Do you want to do it?” how do you??? not notice that?

**thisisthedollarstore:** anyway i did the rest of their makeup because unlike some people im not too chicken to touch a homies face to help them out

**thisisthedollarstore:** anyway if youre friends now invite them to the jam sesh

**POWER:** what??

**thisisthedollarstore:** grants out sick so we need more people to make it a proper hang and now that i did their makeup that makes us friends so they can come

**POWER:** you don’t even know if they can play an instrument

**thisisthedollarstore:** so ask them? lmao

POWER > finch 9:00

**POWER:** do you play any instruments 

**finch:** I can play the keyboard okay

**POWER:** cool cool, do you want to come to the jam sesh at nick’s house after school today

**POWER:** it’ll just be me, nick and sparrow so

**finch:** sure, I’ll just double check with my parents

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Friday 12:21

**POWER:** what is the left thing about

**POWER:** WHAT IS THE LEFT THING ABOUT

**lovewolf:** it’s immmmpolite to talk of others while in their presence~

**POWER:** BUT WHAT IS THE LEFT THING ABOUT

**miku stan on main:** what are y’all talking about, i’m trying to watch minecraft videos

**POWER:** finch ate lunch with us today and they only eat half their food

**POWER:** not half the portion but like, legitimately it’s like there’s a line down the middle of the plate and they only ate the right half?

**POWER:** and tj went ‘not hungry?’ and they were like ‘huh?’ like they  _ weren’t _ being weird

**teejay:** stop being mean to the person  _ you  _ invited to lunch

**POWER:** I’m not being ruuuude I just want to knowwww

**miku stan on main:** you’re a little rude

**thisisthedollarstore:** we could ask

**POWER:** NO ONE ASK

**thisisthedollarstore:** k

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Friday 12:32

**POWER:** yoooo tj with no restraint 

**POWER:** finally someone in detention that isn’t me

**miku stan on main:** tj’s in detention???

**sparrow:** he punched someone!

**POWER:** unconscious~!!!

**miku stan on main:** wh??

**miku stan on main:** you miss one day of school,

**sparrow:** nick was telling us about some iffy things someone was saying about him earlier so tj walked over to them and tried to get them to apologise 

**POWER:** and then when he tried to say something shitty about nick again tj PUNCHED THEM AND IT WAS SO COOL

**miku stan on main:** iffy things?

**thisisthedollarstore:** transphobes be spouting transphobia lmao

**miku stan on main:** oh shit, are you okay??

**thisisthedollarstore:** i’m not the transphobe with a broken nose and a concussion lol

**Eye Of The Tiger:** hell YEAH ! HELL YEAH!! KING TJ

Friday 15:32 — road to the Close household

Lark and Sparrow were walking side by side behind Nick and Finch, footsteps in sync. They were trying to figure out the perfect middle ground for possible actions they could take in various political movements. Currently on the discussion of the destruction of the rainforest, Sparrow wouldn’t budge on his position on not killing the people investing in destroying the environment for profit, but Lark figured chaining themselves to trees in protest was too submissive. Which led to the current middleground discussion about how they could realistically destroy as much machinery involved in the process as possible.

Lark was fully attentive to their very important conversation, but was also vaguely aware of Nick and Finch talking to each other in much quieter, chiller tones than the twins. It was something about bands, nothing Lark was interested in, but there was something about it that kept him half listening. Finch’s voice had a certain calming quality to it. Normally, Lark was anti-anything tranquil, but letting the soft replies and quiet words wash over him as they continued their walk was almost… nice?

When they arrived at Nick’s front door, Finch stepped back to join the twins as Nick searched his jacket for the housekey.

“So, what do you play?” Finch asked them both.

“Drums.” They replied simultaneously.

“We take turns!” Sparrow added.

Finch nodded. “Definitely suits you both.”

Nick made a small sound of affirmation once he found the key and pulled it from his pocket, unlocking the door and pushing it open right afterwards. Sparrow was the first in after him, sprinting through the door as soon as Nick had stepped aside.

Lark followed soon after Sparrow. He  _ adored  _ Nick’s house. It was a creation of chaos. Nothing sat in the place it should, there was at least one empty pizza box in every room Lark had seen, and the whole place  _ stank  _ of weed. The only things cared for normally were the instruments scattered around the place that Nick and his dad kept in pristine condition.

The front door opened immediately into the living room. Lark flipped over the nearest couch’s back onto its cushions with a soft thump. It took him a moment to realise he hadn’t heard the door close behind them. He peeped over the couch’s back to look at the door. Finch was standing in the doorframe, almost frozen in place. It wasn’t the  _ exact  _ same panic Lark had seen on them before, but their wide eyes were certainly reminiscent of it.

Sparrow jumped onto the cushion beside him and the twins shared a look. Sparrow had noticed too, it seemed. They both looked forward again. 

“Are you okay?” Sparrow asked.

Finch’s eyes jumped to the two of them and they shifted into an easy smile. “Ah, yeah. Just thinking about something, sorry.”

They took a step forward and pulled their phone out of their pocket as they did. “Oh,” They feigned surprise, “I missed like, five texts from my mom,  _ jeez.” _

_ Lying.  _ Totally and utterly  _ lying.  _ Badly.

The fuck?

They pressed their screen a few times before staring silently at the phone for a moment or two. “Uh, dang. I gotta go. Family emergency, my bad. I’ll catch you guys another time.”

_ Like _ , ‘rolling a nat 1 deception check’ lying.

“Okay, see you Monday!” Sparrow offered generously. 

Finch gave them a strained smile before looking between Lark and Nick. Neither of them said anything. Finch grimaced before turning awkwardly and walking back down the driveway. Sparrow jumped over the couch and closed the door. So they wouldn’t keep looking at them until they literally couldn’t see them anymore, Lark figured.

Both twins looked over to Nick at the same time. Nick, halfway across the room and leaning against the wall, stared at the door intently. 

“Ha, kinda wack.” Nick said with unconvincing nonchalance. “How ‘bout we just like, watch a movie or something. Jamming out’s kinda lame with just three people.”

teejay > thisisthedollarstore 17:14

**teejay:** out of detention and I can already sense it

**thisisthedollarstore:** ?

**teejay:** you’ve been wearing it too long

**teejay:** you’re going to break your fucking ribs dude

**thisisthedollarstore:** you dont know that

**teejay:** so you’re not wearing your binder right now? 

**thisisthedollarstore:** :/

**teejay:** I know what happened today is probably fucking with you majorly but you need to take breaks from your binder

**teejay:** take it off

**thisisthedollarstore:** the twins are here

**teejay:** don’t care. kick them out or wear a big sweater or something. if you bruise your ribs you’ll regret it

**thisisthedollarstore:** k fine

**thisisthedollarstore:** ig we’re just watching movies so blankets too

**teejay:** thanks

**teejay:** gotta go face the consequences of my actions, see you later

**thisisthedollarstore:** lmao bye

  
  


thisisthedollarstore > finch 17:34

**thisisthedollarstore:** did I do something to weird you out orrr

**finch:** … nick?

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh yeah its me lol

**finch:** yeah sorry I guess I was rude running off like that

**thisisthedollarstore:** was it really a family emergency or

**finch:** uh no, it wasn’t 

**thisisthedollarstore:** so did I do something ??

**finch:** no, no. it’s like, totally on me.

**finch:** it’s kinda embarrassing really?

**thisisthedollarstore:** dude, the twins used to eat each others lice in front of people as kids so its not like the bar for normals set very high

**finch:** okay i’m just going to set aside  _ that  _ information to process later

**finch:** I can’t handle the smell of weed very well? don’t ask

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh shit really

**thisisthedollarstore:** dang sorry man indidn’t know

**thisisthedollarstore:** wait i smell of weed 

**thisisthedollarstore:** do i make you uncomfortable???

**finch:** nah, it’s like  _ strong  _ smells. I can deal with one person 

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh chill

Server: Cold One With The Boys — Venting

Friday 17:37

**thisisthedollarstore:** when someone says they can deal with something that means they feel uncomfortable with it but will push past their uncomfortableness right??

**miku stan on main:** I mean

**miku stan on main:** yes? I think

**miku stan on main:** is something... wrong?

**thisisthedollarstore:** nah

**miku stan on main:** you’re in venting, did you want to like, talk about something?

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh lmao thought this was general

**thisisthedollarstore:** kinda high haha you know how it is

**miku stan on main:** oh okay

**thisisthedollarstore:** yeah I was just reading some dumb twitter thread and my brain couldn’t fully understand the word or something

**miku stan on main:** cool cool if you’re sure

**thisisthedollarstore:** for sure, for sure. never been better


	5. chill weekend where nothing much happens to earn your forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a chapter with no prose? revolutionary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y’all figured out what I did to finch so you get one (1) peaceful chapter before we get back into it as an apology but after this? never again

Saturday 

thisisthedollarstore > miku stan on main 10:37

**thisisthedollarstore:** do you want to hang

**miku stan on main:** i’m still sick :/

**thisisthedollarstore:** like physical sick or brain sick

**miku stan on main:** that was the weirdest way to ask that question but I guess brain sick?

**miku stan on main:** don’t really feel like getting out of bed today sorry

**thisisthedollarstore:** okay i’ll come to you

**miku stan on main:** huh

**thisisthedollarstore:** i’ll keep you company but you dont gotta talk if you dont want to

**thisisthedollarstore:** i’ll play minecraft or something and you can join me if you feel like it

**miku stan on main:** I told my parents it was my stomach, they’re not going to let you in if they think I’m proper sick

**thisisthedollarstore:** so i’ll climb through the window lmao not that hard

**thisisthedollarstore:** only if you want

**miku stan on main:** no, that sounds good. come over

**thisisthedollarstore:** sick

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Saturday 10:41

**miku stan on main:** @Eye Of The Tiger, how’s tj? he hasn’t been online

**Eye Of The Tiger:** he was going to have a meeting with the principal yesterday about what he did but samantha was working and I think the guy is scared to meet with only ron there after last time!

**Eye Of The Tiger:** so tj and samantha went to the school today!

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I downloaded tiktok on ron’s phone and we’ve been on frog tiktok for the last two hours

**lovewolf:** frog tiktok \\(★ω★)/

**thisisthedollarstore:** brooooo that shit is datamine central

**miku stan on main:** oh nooo are they going to take my minecraft password

**miku stan on main:** the chinese government might steal my miku edits without giving credit

**lovewolf:** they can know as much as they want :) it will not help them escape!

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I just like watching frog videos man

**POWER:** why is tj getting a wholeass meeting? doesn’t our school like, not give a fuck about people?? I hit people all the time and I just get detention?

**miku stan on main:** the kid tj hit has parents that give funding for a bunch of stuff around the school

**miku stan on main:** also not to start a Whole Thing about it but you definitely look a lot more white than TJ does 

**POWER:** that’s true...

**lovewolf:** I hope he’s okay :’((

finch > POWER 12:32

**finch:** tell me some stuff about you

**POWER:** huh

**finch:** I feel like I know your vibes pretty well but I don’t actually know much about you specifically

**finch:** what do you like doing apart from fighting?

**POWER:** well, fighting’s the most important thing

**finch:** of course, of course

**POWER:** hmmmmmmmm

**POWER:** I like high energy or general athletic stuff

**POWER:** rock climbing, soccer, nonprofessional parkour, etc.

**finch:** nonprofessional parkour?

**POWER:** that’s just when me and sparrow jump off of really tall things and yell ‘parkour!’ and scare the shit out of everyone around us

**finch:** sounds fun

**POWER:** smashing cars in a junkyard is definitely on that list now too

**finch:** hell yeah

**finch:** hmmm reading?

**POWER:** never

**finch:** movies?

**POWER:** only movies with a BUNCH of explosions or jumpscares or something

**POWER:** otherwise it’s booooorrrrring

**finch:** hm, noted

**POWER:** noted?

**finch:** noted ;)

**POWER:** welllllll what about you then???

**finch:** hm, I like cooking, I guess? my mom’s super into it and I cook with her a lot

**finch:** I used to write a lot too, but I haven’t in a while

**POWER:** why not?? 

**finch:** no thoughts head empty ig

**finch:** you can’t call on inspiration dude, it calls on you

**POWER:** sounds stupid, just write more words??

**finch:** damn, why didn’t I think of that?

**finch:** all these months of not being able to write… I never thought to just… write words

**finch:** my writer’s block is fixed, I am healed, you are a genius

**POWER:** you’re welcome!!!

**finch:** stupid

**POWER:** stupider 

**finch:** I was going to write ‘stupidest’ but I have to tell you that I saw stupider and read ‘stu spider’

**POWER:** stew spider…

**finch:** spider stew…

**POWER:** delicious 

**finch:** yeah, I  _ bet  _ you’d like spider stew

**POWER:** what does THAT mean??

**finch:** I know things… things that I perhaps would be better off not knowing...

**POWER:** what does that meeeeaaan????

**finch:** I’m not going to put you on blast

**POWER:** i’m now highly suspicious and confused but okay

**finch:** were you not already highly suspicious of me?

**POWER:** true!

**finch:** okay tell me something else. cool pet?

**POWER:** are you writing a list of lark trivia or something??

**finch:** I mean, in my head ig??

**POWER:** we have a pet goat

**POWER:** called Earth, father named them

**finch:** sounds like a name someone like me would call themself because we cannot get e-fucking-nough of one syllable noun names

**POWER:** you got a pet with a name that can beat the almost-pretentious levels of earth and cloud?

**finch:** Jeanne Antoinette Poisson

**POWER:** what the FUCK

**POWER:** okay you win

**finch:** dad named her because he thinks he’s funny

**finch:** she’s a big black tosa. looks super intimidating but she’s a softie

**finch:** the house will be silent and then without warning it’s “madame de pompadour!! don't cahme eento ze house weeth dehty feet, oh là là…’

**POWER:** wait you have french parents??

**finch:** just my mom

**POWER:** she’s french??

**finch:** yeah, why?

**POWER:** absolutely no reason at all, just keeping note

**finch:** k

**finch:** gotta go help with lunch, brb

**POWER:** byeeee

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Saturday 12:42

**POWER:** emergency 

**miku stan on main:** what

**POWER:** finch’s mom is french???

**thisisthedollarstore:** oof

**POWER:** now I have to come up with contingencies to keep her from meeting my father from here until the end of time, ughhhh

**POWER:** I should just keep fighting finch until they leave me alone for real and then I won’t have to deal with father embarrassing me

**lovewolf:** he’ll probably just say something passive aggressive and then they’ll avoid talking to each other forever and you won’t have to deal with it again

**lovewolf:** as strange as father is, I think he’ll restrain himself from getting  _ too  _ heated at someone if he knows they’re the parent of one of your friends :D!!

**POWER:** I’m still not entirely 100% positive on the ’friends’ thing when finch is so annoying but you have a point

**lovewolf:** I will teach father to accept people from all walks of life!! (⌒▽⌒)☆!! Even if they’re unfortunately french.

**POWER:** I admire taking up such a challenging goal. That takes great strength

**lovewolf:** thank you, brother :D!

finch > POWER 13:21

**finch:** got delayed but yo

**POWER:** welcome back

**finch:** alright, your turn to ask a question if you want

**POWER:** hmmmm I don’t know

**POWER:** oh! actually I’ve been wondering something about you

**finch:** hit me

**POWER:** been there, done that

**finch:** :/

**POWER:** okay so I tried googling things and I found a thing that sounds kiiiinda like you

**POWER:** do you have that left sided neglect thing?

**finch:** uhhhhh yeah.

**POWER:** oh! okay that explains soooo much

**POWER:** but it said that you can only get it by like, a stroke or brain trauma, right?

**finch:** yeah.

**POWER:** so did something happen to you??

**finch:** I mean… obviously

**POWER:** but  _ what? _

**finch:** not telling, next question.

**POWER:** okay next question: can’t you treat it?

**finch:** sure.

**POWER:** soooo why haven’t you??

**finch:** don’t want to.

**POWER:** why wouldn’t you want to treat that??

**finch:** just don’t 

**POWER:** doesn’t it hinder you a lot?

**finch:** sure

**POWER:** ???? sounds stupid?

**finch:** uh huh

**POWER:** why don’t you just go through the treatment

**finch:** why don’t you just mind your fucking business

**POWER:** woah

**POWER:** OKAY

**finch:** what

**POWER:** you could’ve just said you didn’t want to talk about it jeez

**finch:** so you can be rude 24/7 but I say one thing and you can’t handle it

**POWER:** I wasn’t trying to upset you

**finch:** oh well if you weren’t  _ trying _ it’s fine

**POWER:** are you seriously mad that I asked you a question???

**finch:** a question I clearly didn’t want to answer? yeah

**POWER:** I was just curious!!

**finch:** do me a favour and don’t talk to me for a while? I need to cool down and you’re not helping

**POWER:** okay?

Server: Cold One With The Boys — Venting

Saturday 13:25

**POWER:** I THINK I FUCKED UP???

**teejay:** same :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “you get one peaceful chapter”   
> tiktok voice: do you see what I did there? it’s a scam :)


	6. yeah dude this is on you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> people talk for once. not for very long! but they definitely do it a little

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda a bridging chapter but enjoy it nonetheless

Server: Cold One With The Boys — Venting 

Saturday 13:25 

**POWER:** you can go first

**teejay:** got suspended 

**miku stan on main:** whAT

**thisisthedollarstore:** did the other kid get in trouble

**teejay:** get in trouble? they didn’t even get detention 

**lovewolf:** THIS IS AN INJUSTICE 

**thisisthedollarstore:** rich people man…

**lovewolf:** I WILL STAGE A PROTEST FOR YOU

 **lovewolf:** JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED

**Eye Of The Tiger:** I’ll cut a bitch!!

**teejay:** don’t say bitch, you’re a baby

 **teejay:** anyway it’s fine, it was worth it

 **teejay:** your turn lark

**POWER:** it's a little hard to explain

**miku stan on main:** just go for it

**POWER:** So I found something out about finch and I think they didn’t want me to know but I was just curious! and I moved to a different question when they asked me to but I asked why they didn’t get it fixed if they can fix it and then they got mad?? and I _told_ them I wasn’t trying to upset them but they’re still mad

**teejay:** okay jeez uh

 **teejay:** first of all: just because you weren’t trying to upset somebody doesn’t mean you didn’t and you’re still responsible for upsetting them

 **teejay:** and you’re being pretty vague but it seems like you were demanding information from them when they didn’t seem like they wanted to talk

**miku stan on main:** also moving onto the next question isn’t really moving onto the next question if it’s on the same topic

**thisisthedollarstore:** bro did you apologise or???

**POWER:** wellllll

**lovewolf:** lark >:(

**POWER:** they said not to talk to them!!

**miku stan on main:** when they talk to you again you really need to apologise and talk about boundaries dude

**teejay:** think about that list we have of things that can’t be in the movies we pick out for movie night. you talking to them about something they’re uncomfortable with would be like someone forcing me to watch a vampire movie, you know?

**POWER:** okay, I think I get it

 **POWER:** I didn’t really realise I was being rude until afterwards

**teejay:** it’s okay, but you’ve still got to take responsibility for it

**POWER:** ew responsibility, I hate it

**thisisthedollarstore:** mood

**POWER:** but okay, I guess I can try

miku stan on main > teejay 13:31 

**miku stan on main:** so you doing okay?

**teejay:** yeah, i’m fine

**miku stan on main:** FINE fine or ‘fine’

**teejay:** I mean I’m pissed off? And I’m definitely worried about what this being on my record will mean for college stuff? but paeden and ron are insisting on showing frog tiktoks so it’s hard to be completely upset

**miku stan on main:** pretty good coping mechanism tbh

**teejay:** they’re so cute…

**miku stan on main:** you’re pretty much the model applicant apart from this one thing though, I’m sure you’ll be fine

**teejay:** guess so

 **teejay:** I’m just going to do my best to chill out during this suspension so I don’t throw hands as soon I get back to school

 **teejay:** make sure the boys don’t do anything too stupid while I’m gone

**miku stan on main:** I accept this promotion to team dad

**teejay:** a well-earned upgrade

 **teejay:** gotta go, paeden says i’m not paying enough attention to the tiktoks

**miku stan on main:** LOOK AT THE FROGS TJ

**teejay:** I’M LOOKING

**miku stan on main:** LOOK HARDER

**teejay:** AAAAAAA

**miku stan on main:** AAAAAAAAAA

Sunday 

finch > POWER 1:21 

**finch:** okay 

**POWER:** wait so you’re ready to talk at _one am?_

**finch:** byeeee

**POWER:** I DIDN'T’ MEAN IT LIKE THAT

 **POWER:** okay, can I talk first?

**finch:** go for it

**POWER:** this is a very rare occurrence but I have come to the conclusion that I maaaaaaay have been in the wrong here. I said things without thinking about if you actually wanted to talk about them or not? and I was really rude and didn’t realise until afterwards but I was still rude in the first place? 

**finch:** okay so you’re terrible at apologising and I hope you know that

 **finch:** but it’s fine, I shouldn’t have gotten that heated over a misunderstanding anyway but it’s a sensitive topic for me

**POWER:** yeah I get that now

 **POWER:** the other boys have things they don’t like talking about too and I guess I didn’t click that it was the same

 **POWER:** is it not alright to talk about the _whole_ thing or just specific things

**finch:** I’m fine with talking about it, just not about how it happened or why I’m not working on ‘fixing’ it

**POWER:** okay!

**finch:** cool

**POWER:** so if I stood to your left could you not see me??

**finch:** I mean, for some people it’s like that, but that’s not what I have. I can’t see the left sides of objects no matter where they are

 **finch:** If someone was wearing an earring in just their right ear, I probably wouldn’t mention it if someone asked me to describe what they look like because I just can’t… compute? that it’s there

**POWER:** is forgetting to put on half your jacket a regular thing?? 

**finch:** depends. looking in a mirror usually helps me to remember to do stuff, but sometimes i’m in a rush or I just forget to focus on it

 **finch:** it’s like that when I’m writing too. I can write on the whole page when I focus hard but inevitably it’ll start drifting. the teacher’s know about it though so it’s not too bad

**POWER:** wait

 **POWER:** aren’t you in art??

**finch:** oh yeah lmao I can’t draw for shit anymore

 **finch:** but ms martin is ALL about weird art genres so she adores my stuff actually

 **finch:** it’s way less technical than art was in my old school, we’re just vibing for most of it. there’s wilder art in the class than mine somehow

**POWER:** yeah sparrow drew the true face of an eldritch being one time when we were kids

**finch:** would NOT doubt that for a second

**POWER:** we really wanted to summon it so we could beat it in a fight

**finch:** _sparrow_ wanted to fight something? 

**POWER:** this was before they set themselves on the path of becoming a lovewolf

**finch:** of course

 **finch:** do you want to come over tomorrow?

 **finch:** or technically ‘today’, I guess

**POWER:** sure!

**finch:** rad, I’m at [address]. Come anytime after ten

**POWER:** see you then

**finch:** looking forward to it

**POWER:** not looking forward to it because you suck

**finch:** you break my heart mahal :((

**POWER:** good :)

**finch:** :o

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Sunday 13:21 

**lovewolf:** lark has abandoned me for the day but it’s okay because now I have a son :)

**miku stan on main:** … explain.

**lovewolf:** [a closeup photo of sparrow. lying nestled between his neck and hood is a tiny duckling]

**thisisthedollarstore:** is that a chicken???

**lovewolf:** it’s a duck :D!

**miku stan on main:** why do you

 **miku stan on main:** why do you have a duck

**teejay:** did you steal a duck???

**lovewolf:** I found him :)

**miku stan on main:** you found a duck??

**lovewolf:** yes!

 **lovewolf:** his name is lark jr and he’s my son and I love him

**POWER:** you can’t give my name to a duck!

**lovewolf:** but I did

**POWER:** you also can’t just give a duck another bird name!!

**lovewolf:** I can and it’s funny

**Eye Of The Tiger:** wow WOW he looks so rad

 **Eye Of The Tiger:** congratulations on becoming a dad! maybe now I’ll find this group more relatable, you guys just don’t get the responsibility that comes with being a father

**thisisthedollarstore:** he’s one cute little motherfucker

**lovewolf:** thank you both!!

**POWER:** I’M GOING TO SUE YOUR STUPID DUCK FOR IDENTITY THEFT

**lovewolf:** focus on trying not to offend finch again before coming for my son maybe :)

**POWER:** WHEN I GET HOME I’M ENDING YOU

**lovewolf:** >:)

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lark: yeah they drew the true face on an eldritch being  
> finch: haha sounds like sparrow alright  
> lark: I am not kidding.
> 
> lark’s apology was pretty terrible because they’re not good at it! but finch will just take that sad excuse of an apology for Reasons.
> 
> next chapter: duck fatherhood, racism against the french, old photos in finch’s bedroom


	7. meet the parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I make someone a french stereotype because it’s what they deserve. Next chapter she appears in she’ll have a baguette, on god

Sunday 13:25 — Finch’s house 

It wasn’t Finch who opened the door, but a rather short woman with hair like a bird’s nest, light brown but streaked with grey. She smiled and it made Lark’s chest feel warmer the same way it did when his own mother smiled.

“You must be Lark.” She said. “I’m Finch’s mom, call me Tala. It’s lovely to meet you.”

Lark didn’t know how Finch had spun him enough to seem ‘lovely to meet’, but he wasn’t going to destroy it in the very first two seconds of meeting her. “You too.”

She pulled the door open wider and gestured for him to come inside. “You can just leave your shoes on the shelf over there.”

The Oak household never took off their shoes when coming into the house. Lark’s father once tried to introduce the idea of wellington boots when the boys developed a fondness for playing in mud, but it did little more than change the kind of muddy footprints the boys left inside the house. If there had ever been a ‘no outdoor shoes on inside the house’ rule enforced, Lark suspected it only would have resulted in him and his brother running through mud barefoot more often instead.

Still, Lark took off his sneakers and put them on the small wooden shelf as Tala looked over her shoulder and yelled. “Finch! Lark is here!”

There was a faint call of “Two seconds!” from somewhere up the stairs.

Despite being rather small, the house itself was pretty bright and airy. The light shining through the glass doors of the living room bounced around the white walls of the open plan entranceway, making the whole place seem so much _brighter_ than his own cosier-feeling home. It might’ve felt devoid of personality if it weren’t for the masses of potted plants covering every spare inch that Lark could see. Even the tables of the dining and living rooms were covered with small vases of flowers.

“So what are you interested in?” Tala asked him. “Have you got a certain career in mind?”

To be honest, Lark had never really thought about what he’d like to do in the future. Sports, maybe, but he was never really ‘good’ at them so much as it was just impressive the amount of chaos he could put into whatever sport he chose to do. Anything academic would never be able to keep his attention and anything artistic was always more suited to Sparrow. 

Lark didn’t think much more about it when he answered. “Stuntman.”

The side of Tala’s gentle smile quirked up. “Bit of a daredevil then?”

Lark shrugged. “I guess.”

“Always seems to be the daredevil types that Finch makes friends with.” 

Lark wanted to point out that he wouldn’t go so far as to call Finch a ‘friend’, but elected not to say it.

Tala continued. “So what do your parents—“

She turned her head towards the stairs as her sentence was interrupted by Finch coming down the stairs.

“Took you long enough.” Tala said. “Keeping your poor friend waiting for you. Did you have to run to Antarctica to grab your jacket?”

Finch sighed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Sorry, mom.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologise to.”

Lark watched Finch’s shoulders weigh down with the sheer force of parental embarrassment. They looked to Lark like they were begging for mercy. “Sorry, Lark.”

Lark knew that saying something along the lines of ‘it’s fine’ as quickly as possible was the most painless way to proceed, but he just snickered instead. 

Finch very pointedly looked anywhere _but_ at him.

“There we go.” Tala said. “Will you two be okay getting lunch for yourselves? I’ve got some errands to run.”

“Yeah, mom.” Finch replied.

She looked down at Lark. “Do you have a time you’ve got to be home by?”

No. “Uhh… six?” Was that a normal time that parents wanted kids home by?

“Perfect. Finch’s other mom can give you a lift home when she goes for the shopping then. Unless you want to stay for dinner?”

Dinner at other people’s houses usually involved meat and although Lark would love nothing more than to get his hands on some, vomiting in front of Finch’s parents probably wouldn’t be very fun for any of them. “No thanks.”

She nodded and turned back to Finch again, stepping closer to the staircase so she was standing beside them. “I’ll be home by three but call if you need anything, okay?”

“Sure, mom.”

“See you later than, love you lots!”

Finch mumbled something in return.

“What was that?” Tala asked.

_“Love you too.”_ Finch repeated with a half ton of exasperation.

“There’s my inakáy.” Tala smiled brighter before hooking her arm around Finch’s neck so she could bend them down enough to let her place a kiss on their forehead with an audible ‘mwah!’

“ _Mom.”_ Finch hissed.

Tala released them with a light chuckle and when she turned back towards the door, Lark could tell that she knew _exactly_ what she was doing. Parents were so cruel… Lark loved her.

She grabbed a pair of shoes and quickly slipped into them. “Good meeting you, Lark.” She said in passing, closing the door behind her as she left the house.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Lark burst out laughing. Finch was seemingly trying to remain straight-faced, but it was a hard thing to do after having your entire cool kid image shattered right in front of you.

“It’s okay.” Lark said. “I knew you were lame already after you laughed at one of my dad’s rock puns.”

Finch ‘tch’d with a half-smile, and led Lark up the stairs without saying much else. 

Their room was pretty small, but didn’t feel cramped by any means. All the walls were painted black, but it seemed to be a special kind of paint because most of the walls were also covered in multi-coloured chalk. The writing was nearly incomprehensible, but the art around the place was pretty good. Finch had said before they were terrible at art now though, so either it had all been done before something happened to them, or someone else had done it all. One of the walls was nearly devoid of any chalk, and instead was plastered with a bunch of photos.

Despite the black walls, the room didn’t feel gloomy. The large window let warm light into each nook and cranny and the whole room was as obsessively covered in plants as the rooms downstairs had been.

Lark scanned over the wall of photos. He recognised Tala in a few of the photos, her tired grunge look seemingly a constant throughout all of them. There was a man in a few of them, skinny and tall and dressed like every nerdy professor that appeared in movies ever. Must be the dad Finch had mentioned once or twice. The only other adult in any of the photos was a tall woman, skin pale as paper with jet black hair — long and straight and pushed behind her ears. The first thing that came to mind was ‘Mortica Addams’ but Lark figured this was the french mom.

There were a few other people dotted around the photos but the one that really jumped out was the girl that was in more than half of them. She and Finch seemed to have known each other for a while, the photos of them both went back through various different haircuts and colours, and ages.

His eyes were stuck drawn to the photo in the centre of the wall, like every other photo was just a frame. It was definitely one of the most recent ones, finch’s style and hair was nearly the exact same as it was now bar the lack of an undercut. It was a close-up selfie of Finch and the girl, her own style was a lot more violent on the eyes than Finch’s. Her hair was dyed a light blonde, but it was splattered with neon pink uneven streaks and her brown roots had been growing in for a while. Her eyeshadow was red and teal and white in the corners, her cheeks were dusted with cosmetic glitter and her lipstick was a stark baby blue. 

She was a neon nightmare, Lark kinda loved it. It was like looking at a human glow stick.

“Who’s that?” Lark asked, pointing at the photo.

Finch’s gaze dropped to where Lark was pointing and they smiled in a sad sort of way. “That’s Bee. She was a friend of mine in my old school.”

Lark took back his hand, but stayed looking at the photo and Bee’s wide unabashed smile. “She looks nice.”

“She is.” Finch replied. “Haven’t talked to her in a while though.”

“Why not?”

Finch looked away from the photo rather quickly, turning their whole body away from it. “Guess we just drifted apart.”

They elected not to do much during Lark’s stay. Finch put on some movies, thankfully remembering that he liked the loud obnoxious kind. Usually Lark was all against watching more than one movie in a row, but they weren’t just _watching_ them. They joked about how stupid the plot was or how fake the effects were and a bunch of tiny conversations completely unrelated to the movie, and time seemed to fly by in a way time _never_ did for Lark. Lunch had been just a few snacks Finch dug up from around the house that they ate throughout one of the movies.

When it reached near six, there was a knock at the door. At Finch’s verbal permission, the door opened and the tall gothic lady from the photos on the wall stepped through the door frame. Somehow her steely gaze made the chestnut colour of her eyes seem cold, and Lark was certain that her cheekbones were sharp enough to cut like knives.

“I have been told I am dropping you home.” She said.

It felt like a trap. Like if he said yes she’d tear him apart for being lazy and rude. “I can walk, it’s like ten minutes.”

She ‘tch’d the same way Finch often did. “Don’t be ridiculous. I will meet you in the car in five minutes, _oui_?”

“Ah,” Lark began, “ _Oui_?”

She gave a curt nod and closed the door again, the faint click-clacking of her heel echoing through the hall.

Finch had _not_ been kidding about how thick her french accent was.

There wasn’t much left to say after that. The two of them went downstairs shortly after their mom had and Finch stood silently as Lark shoved his shoes back onto his feet. Finch walked him outside and stopped a little before their mom’s car. Their mom was already there, doing something on her phone while she waited for him.

“I know we didn’t do much today but, you know,” Finch began, not adding anything else.

“It was fun.” Lark finished. “Still hate you though.”

Finch laughed. “I think at this point it would be weird if you said otherwise.”

Lark suppressed the smile slipping onto his face. “Yeah, whatever. See you at school tomorrow, loser.”

“Sure thing, asshole.” Finch shot back.

Lark took that as a sign the conversation had closed and moved around to the passenger side of the car. Over the window, Lark held up his middle finger at Finch who quickly returned the gesture.

However, without the protection of being in a blindspot of the driver, the gesture was met with a muffled but audible “Finch!”

Finch jerked back and looked down sheepishly at the window of the driver’s seat, having seemingly forgotten she was there. “Sorry, mom!”

Finch very quickly turned back towards the house without anything further. Lark opened the car door and sat down inside.

Finch’s mom followed their walk back towards the house with her eyes. “That child…” She muttered, before looking at Lark with a thin raised brow. “So, you are the boy Finch has been talking so much about? Euh, Wren, no?”

“Lark.” He corrected as he closed the car door behind him.

_“Lark.”_ She repeated, like she was testing it out. She started the car’s engine. “ _Pardon_ , Lark, I am hopeless with names.”

Typically Lark would say something along the lines of ‘clearly’ or ‘ok stupid’, but for some very weird unidentifiable reason he wanted to give Finch’s parents a good first impression of him. Maybe because he had upset Finch so much yesterday that he didn’t want to do the exact same thing two days in a row by being rude to their parents?

So he went with something more polite as the car pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. “It’s fine, Mrs… um-“

“Benoit.”

“Right, yeah. It’s fine. Take a right here.”

There was _something_ about the surname Benoit that felt eerily familiar, but Lark just couldn’t put his finger on it. It was probably just some stupid celebrity’s name, he was always bad at remembering those.

“When I first met Tala, I only referred to Finch by ‘your child’ and such because I could never remember what it was they were called. I need to put the name to the face, you see. Names are lost to me otherwise.”

“Yeah.”

Mrs Benoit temporarily took her eyes off the road to cast a glance sideways at him. “Tala says you are a euh… _casse-cou._ A daredevil?”

“Well-“

“Let me tell you,” she continued, “that Finch has been through _much,_ oui? So if you harm a single harm on their hair or you put them in danger, I will come at you with a reckoning. _Vous comprenez,_ do you understand?”

To be honest, Lark wasn’t sure _what_ to think. So he went with “... yeah?”

“Good.” Her dark lips pulled up into a curt smile that was far less familiar than Tala’s. “Which road am I taking here?”

It was a pretty brief drive thankfully, so they were soon pulling up outside the Oak residence. Lark opened his door, but was shocked to find Mrs Benoit was doing the same. 

“It’s okay!” Lark said hurriedly. “I can walk myself to the door.”

“Nonsense.” She said, matter-of-factly. “It is only polite, no? I would like to meet your parents.”

Lark couldn’t think of any excuses. _Sparrow_ was the one that lied the best. He tried to say something, _anything,_ but he was at a loss for words and Mrs Benoit was already walking, shutting the door behind her.

Lark jumped out of his seat, near slamming the car door shut behind him and he raced over to Finch’s mom. When they reached the door, Lark stood in front of her, holding out his arms. “No, really. It’s fine. You can just leave me here. Mom might be meditating anyway and I don’t want to-“

She looked briefly bemused, then knocked.

_Please be mother. Please be mother. Please be mother._

It wasn’t.

His father's smile at seeing him home quickly soured as he saw who stood beside him. He frowned, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. A quick look to Mrs Benoit saw her mirroring his expression exactly, although it was a far more effective look on her.

“ _Henry.”_ She said, with dropped aitch and all. Her voice had turned 20° cooler in an instant, and dripped with venom. Lark realised very quickly, with that one word, that their conversation in the car had been her going easy on him.

“ _Delphine.”_ He returned with equal malice.

Then it clicked. _Delphine Benoit_. His father’s co-worker at the geology museum and long-time archenemy.

_Fuck._

He took out his phone.

POWER > finch 18:01 

**POWER:** DID YOU KNOW???

**finch:** know what?

**POWER:** THAT OUR PARENTS KNEW EACH OTHER??

**finch:** did I put together that a henry oak who told me he was a geologist was more than likely the same henry oak that worked with my mom at the geology museum and was her ‘ennemi juré’? Yes, yes I did.

**POWER:** WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING???

**finch:** thought it’d be funny

“Oh, you’re ridiculous!” His father yelled. “ _You_ get upset over the way people say _croissant!”_

“Because you say it wrong! C’est pas un ‘cross-sanT’, it is a _kwa-san.”_

“Nobody says it like that here, _Delphine!_ It’s an obnoxious thing to point out!”

“It is an obnoxious thing to get wrong!”

“It’s just the american way of saying it, it’s not _wrong.”_ He insisted.

“Ahh, the _American_ way. No wonder it is so stupid, no? If you are going to take a french word, then you pronounce it the _french way!”_

POWER > finch 18:03 

**POWER:** you were right

**finch:** I expect a full transcript of the conversation to be read out when you’re a witness in court once they start tearing each other’s hair out

**POWER:** I’m committing it all to memory as we speak

“ _Alors_ ,” Delphine said, “Look at me, I am Henry Oak and I think your meal plan is _problématique_ because the snails might have _feelings.”_

“Well, y’know, uh,” his father stumbled, “Look at me! I’m Delphine Benoit and I think speaking french words randomly makes me sound posh when all they really do is make me sound pretentious!”

“Pretentious? _Moi?_ No, no. That is _you_ when you start giving one of your ‘moral lectures’ to somebody who does not care, _c'est-à-dire_ everyone.”

“Is everyone okay here?” Came a more soothing voice as his mother appeared beside his father in the doorframe. Lark was slightly disappointed, he had been enjoying the argument.

“Ah, Mercedes. How lovely to see you.” Delphine said, and her face softened.

“You too, Delphine.” His mother replied with a smile. “How’s Tala and Rommel?”

“All in good health.” She returned. “I had no idea that it was your child that Finch had been talking so much about.”

His father looked between the two women, seemingly at a loss about the sudden change of atmosphere but knowing well enough not to break the peace by speaking. 

“Neither did I. It’s assuring to know a friend of Lark’s is being raised by such good people.”

Compliments seemed to win Mrs Benoit over rather easily. She had a pleasant air about her now, though it didn’t suit her aesthetic as well as her venomous glare had. “You are too kind.” She said. “I must get going though, I have to get the shopping done. But it was lovely to see you again.”

“And you.” His mother returned with genuine warmth.

“Nice meeting you, Lark.” She said, with a nod in his direction. His father got nothing but a glare that was met with equal measure.

“Byeeeeeee!” Lark replied as she walked back to her car.

Once they were all inside and the door was closed, his father burst again. _“Delphine Benoit?”_

His mother chuckled.

He looked at her in shock. “Did you know that Finch was _her_ kid?”

She went to walk past his father, but put a hand on his shoulder and stopped beside him. “There’s plenty of people called Finch, I didn’t suspect they were her kid at all.”

She took a step past him but turned and winked at Lark from behind his father’s turned back.

Lark hid a grin behind his hand.

His mother continued walking towards the kitchen. “Dinner won’t be for another half hour or so, _pollito_.”

“That’s okay!” Lark chirped back. “I need to have a meeting with Sparrow about Lark Jr anyway.”

As he raced up the stairs, he heard one final snippet of his parents’ conversation.

“Do I _want_ to know who Lark Jr is, _mi amor?”_ His father asked.

“My best guess is ‘not tonight’, my love.”

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Sunday 18:32 

**lovewolf:** Lark has been won over by lark jr’s cuteness

**POWER:** I didn’t say he was CUTE, I said I wouldn’t step on him and break his neck while you’re sleeping

**lovewolf:** you looooovvvvvve himmmmmm

**POWER:** noooooooooooooo

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Monday 8:23 

**POWER:** I don’t know what just happened

**teejay:**?

**POWER:** okay first of all why are you awake

**teejay:** forgot to turn my school alarm off and couldn’t get back to sleep

 **teejay:** continue

**POWER:** finch came up to me and said put out your hands and close your eyes. so I did

 **POWER:** and then they put a fucking baby chicken in my hands???

 **POWER:** is getting chickens a trend now?

**lovewolf:** he’s a duck

**POWER:** wait was that lark jr

**lovewolf:** yes 😌 they’re babysitting

**POWER:** why-

**lovewolf:** I’m not showing mother and father until I get another one

 **lovewolf:** but I can’t just leave him home alone :((

 **lovewolf:** but we have pe this morning

 **lovewolf:** and finch has big pockets!!

lovewolf > finch: 

**lovewolf:** how is lark jr

**finch:** looking cute

**lovewolf:** what is he up to??

**finch:** sleeping I think

**lovewolf:** do you want to keep him until the end of the day

**finch:** sure

**lovewolf:** nice, you can be the godparent and their pibling

**finch:** pibling?

**lovewolf:** instead of aunt/uncle! 

**finch:** I’m honoured and love my nephew very much

**lovewolf:** he loves you too!!

Monday 12:10 — The Cafeteria 

Before they walked to their table, Sparrow stuck a page to each side of the cafeteria doors with blu tack. Lark gave it a quick look over. A qr code and a website url.

“What is this?” Lark asked.

Sparrow smiled. “You’ll see in just a few minutes.”

It wasn’t until at least fifteen minutes later, when the majority of people had gotten food and were sitting down, that Sparrow made his move. He reached into his bag and casually pulled out a megaphone.

Lark grinned. “ _Where_ did you get that?”

“Tell you later!” Sparrow replied, before jumping onto the table and setting off the megaphone’s siren.

Very quickly, all the room’s attention was drawn his way. Once everyone was looking over, Sparrow shut off the siren and started talking into the megaphone.

“Sorry for interrupting lunch, but this is very important!” He said. “As some of you might have seen yesterday, my good friend TJ punched someone right in the face! I don’t normally condemn violence, as I am something of a pacifist, but you see, the person my good friend TJ punched was in fact _very_ transphobic. Lots of people say ‘punch all nazis’, ‘punch all homophobes’, ‘punch all transphobes’, but how many of you would do it? Very little of you! So most of you will probably agree with me that TJ is very brave and Micheal looks pretty funny with a crooked nose anyway.”

There was some noise gathering at a table on the far side of the cafeteria, Micheal and his cronies whispering amongst themselves and glaring daggers at Sparrow. Some other people from around the cafeteria were taking turns glancing back at Micheal.

“Now see, my good friend TJ was suspended for punching Micheal Davis. You might think this is fair, but in fact the school has very rarely cared about fighting before! And now they do? Weird, huh? And _also,_ Micheal’s transphobic comments went unpunished even though _they_ very clearly violate the school’s policies about hate speech! See! He’s right over there!” Sparrow pointed at the table before waving at Micheal.

Now _most_ people were looking Micheal’s way. The boys at the table all started yelling at once, but Sparrow spoke over them easily.

“Mmmmmm, I think I was still talking, transphobes!”

“If Micheal is not to be punished, then TJ shouldn’t have to suffer as much as he is! A suspension like this might make it harder to get into colleges!! So I’ve created a very cool link! This link will lead you to a google doc with screenshots from Micheal’s _very_ problematic twitter account with links to each tweet just in case some of you don’t believe me about what he said the other day and another link to a petition to scrub this suspension from TJ’s permanent record! There are three ways to get them! There is a QR code and a url on the doors over there.” He pointed. “Or just check the reply I left to the most recent post on the school’s twitter account! If you support justice and/or trans rights, I hope you’ll sign and spread the google doc around to as many people as you can! Sorry for interrupting your lunch, thank you so much for listening! Bye!”

Sparrow turned off the megaphone, jumped down from the table, and the cafeteria exploded into chatter.

Sparrow stole a chip from Nick’s plate like nothing had happened.

“Dude.” Nick said with a wide smile.

“That was awesome!” Lark agreed, elbowing Sparrow lightly in the side to show his affection.

“ _Very_ cool.” Finch agreed.

Grant laughed a little. “That was definitely something TJ would’ve wanted me to stop, but I think it was worth it.”

Sparrow nodded. “I think that will get my cause some attention anyway.”

Lark expected Micheal to come over looking for a fight, but he stayed sitting at his table with a stoney expression.

It wasn’t until halfway through their next class that it happened. The intercom in the corner of the room crackled to life and a voice came through the speakers. 

“Can Sparrow Oak-Garcia, Lark Oak-Garcia, Nicholas Close, Finch Antonio, and Grant Wilson report to the principal’s office immediately, please?”

Lark and Sparrow turned to each other and grinned.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should I have edited this more and added some extra stuff to it? perhaps. Will I ever? no :D!


	8. they were a skater finch, they said see you later binch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting is pretty short, finch is annoying on purpose, lark jr has a rough day

Monday 13:20 — The Principal’s Office

Lark and Sparrow were the last of the group to arrive at the Principal’s office. Micheal was sitting in one of the seats outside it, looking like a cat that got the cream. 

Sparrow smiled back before knocking on the door.

At her call of ‘come in’ they all filled in after Sparrow.

Principal Owens was an older woman who wore her hair up tight enough that it tugged at her face. She looked up from the paper on her desk with tired grey eyes, taking off her square glasses with a sigh and letting them hang by their chain.

“Please,” she said with faux warmth, “take a seat.”

Sparrow was the first to take her up on the offer, scooting the centre chair close so he could clasp his hands together and rest them on the desk before him like he owned the place.

Nick took the second chair, collapsing into it and resting one leg over the other.

The rest of them remained standing despite the one remaining empty seat.

“I trust you all know why I called you here.” She continued.

“Well,” Sparrow began chirpily, “My best guess is that it’s because Micheal Davis gave you a false account of what happened in the cafeteria today. After all, if it  _ was  _ accurate, I’d be the only one here.”

Ms Owens seemed temporarily taken aback, looking at Sparrow with mouth slightly agape before she shut it quick. She offered them a strained smile and continued speaking in a honey-sick voice. “Well then, how about I hear your side of the story?”

They all let Sparrow take the lead, it was his mission after all. “I stood up on the table, told everybody about the events that had recently transpired, and gave them all a way to find more information and make their voices heard. Did I do something  _ wrong,  _ Miss? Did I break any of your  _ rules?” _

“Slendering a fellow student-“

“Slander requires false statements, Miss.” Sparrow said. “I suppose I did give  _ one  _ opinion when I called Micheal a transphobe, of course, but that was based on his history of transphobia, you see. Everything else was factual or rhetorical.”

Grant nodded. “None of us heard any slander.”

“But your behaviour,” Ms Owens insisted, “standing up on the table, interrupting lunch—“

“Doesn’t break  _ any  _ school rule, Miss.” Sparrow smiled. “I read them all ten times over to be sure.”

Ms Owens opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could say anything there was a cheep.

Everyone stilled.

“What was that?” Ms Owens asked.

“My phone.” Nick answered easily. “Got some sick ass cheeping as my ringtone, so cute.”

There was another cheep that came very distinctly from not-Nick’s direction.

Principal Owens looked to Finch. “Young…” she went to say, before remembering neither ‘man’ nor ‘lady’ would fit. She was left struggling for a moment, but Finch mercilessly kept eye contact with her while saying nothing to help.

“Finch.” She amended. “What’s making that noise?”

Seemingly thinking they had nothing to hide, Finch pulled Lark Jr from their pocket and held him out for her to see.

“Is that- Is that a chicken?” She asked.

“This is my nephew.” Finch replied.

“He’s a duck actually.” Sparrow added.

Ms Owens put her head in her hands and sighed. “Get out of my office.”

“Miss-“ Sparrow began.

“You’re excused.” She said, more forcefully. “We’ll return to this later in the week. Go back to your classes.”

Nick got up from his chair and the rest of them turned to leave bar one. Sparrow leaned forward. 

“This kind of unequal treatment of your students is a very unappealing look for the school board.” He said before jumping up off his chair and pushing past the others before she could say anything in return.

Ms Owens stared ahead incredulously and shook her head. They rest of them all filtered out of the room, Lark offering the principal a smug smile as he closed the door behind him.

Tuesday

POWER > finch 8:24

**POWER:** did you just skate past me or have I been around nick so long that I just got high via osmosis 

**finch:** yeah i’ve got skates on

**POWER:** woooooow so rebellious 

**finch:** actually I was inspired by sparrow to look through the rule book

**finch:** somehow heelies are listed as inappropriate footwear but rollerskates? not mentioned

**finch:** the dean tried to get me for ‘running in the halls’ but I told him there was no way what I was doing could ever count as running

**POWER:** so you’re just being annoying

**finch:** that’s the plan

**POWER:** I love it, I lovvvvve it

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Tuesday 15:11

**POWER:** has anyone seen sparrow

**POWER:** father will be late anyway but he was meant to meet me by the steps

**miku stan on main:** haven’t seen him, want me to check the theatre for him?

**POWER:** sure 

**teejay:** probably got distracted playing with his duck

**POWER:** yeah probably 

**thisisthedollarstore:** found him

**POWER:** where??

**thisisthedollarstore:** one of the bathrooms

**thisisthedollarstore:** looks a little uhhhhh beat up? hes also crying

**miku stan on main:** crying???

**teejay:** beat up?

**POWER:** my brother would NEVER cry over getting bet up, our pain tolerance is FAR too high. something else must’ve happen

**thisisthedollarstore:** hes not really telling me much dude idk

**miku stan on main:** check his duck? maybe it’s hurt

**thisisthedollarstore:** ducks not here dude

POWER > finch 15:15

**POWER:** were you babysitting lark jr today??

**finch:** nah, sparrow’s had him all day. why?

**POWER:** I think he’s been ducknapped

**finch:** wait, real shit???

**POWER:** yeah he’s missing and sparrow crying so I’m connecting the dots

**POWER:** one sec

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Tuesday 13:16

**POWER:** finch doesn’t have lark jr either, I think this was a kidnapping 

**POWER:** ask sparrow if it was that bitchass micheal that took him

**thisisthedollarstore:** uh yeah he nodded

**POWER:** i’m going to find him and beat the shit out of him

**teejay:** lark NO, there’s no chance you’re going to be able to find him after school on his own. you can’t take on like all the people he might have with him!

**POWER:** WATCH ME

**miku stan on main:** where are you

**POWER:** NOT TELLING

POWER > finch 15:17

**POWER:** micheal confirmed ducknapper

**POWER:** but i’m about to perform a rescue mission

**finch:** with who?

**POWER:** just me!

**finch:** bad idea??

**POWER:** god you’re so annoying, I can take them

It took a while to find them, but luckily Micheal and two of his friends were still on school grounds. Lark found them by the bleechers surrounding the football field, laughing over something, Lark Jr in the hands of one of Micheal’s squad. Lark couldn’t remember his name for shit, he’d been ‘Douchebag’ in his head for far too long to ever be known as something else anyway.

Bar Micheal and Douchebag, the only other person there was Kimberly — an older cheerleader with abs like a god that was notorious around the school for her violent streak. 

“Hey!” Lark yelled as he got closer.

Douchebag squinted. “Did we not…  _ just  _ beat this guy up?”

“There’s two of them.” Micheal replied with an air of disgust.

“Ugh,” Kimberly said aloud, before she raised her voice. “Hey, pipsqueak! Get lost!”

Lark was  _ not  _ short. Maybe  _ slightly  _ shorter than Kimberly but he definitely wasn’t short enough to be called a pipsqueak.

Lark walked closer to them. “Hand him over!”

Kimberly scoffed. “The fucking chicken?”

“He’s a  _ duck.” _

Lark jumped onto the bleachers and made a dive for Douchebag. He landed on his chest and went to snatch Lark Jr from his hands, but before he could lay a finger on him, his arms were snatched by someone and held behind his back. He was sharply tugged backwards.

He thrashed as hard as he could to escape their grip, but his opponent kept a tight hold despite the difficulty of doing so.

“ _ Jesus,  _ this fucking kid, man.” Kimberly said from behind him, before she spun him around and slammed his head into a pole close by.

He was released from her grip, but remained standing, swaying back and forth a bit after the impact. Before he could reorientate himself, Micheal had grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him off the bleachers onto the hard concrete beneath.

His momentum carried him across the ground a little, skinning the side of his right hand and his cheek. Not enough to cause any bleeding.

Everything stung and ached, but Lark had fared far worse before. He quickly got to his feet and glared at the three of them with fire in his eyes. He  _ was  _ going to get that stupid duck back if it was the last thing he did.

“Dude,” Micheal laughed a little, “Just stay down.”

“Like you did?” Called a voice from further up the field.

_ Finch. _

They stood, still in their skates, with both hands in their pockets and looked towards Micheal with that maddening smirk that usually boiled Lark’s blood. This time it was a more welcome sight.

“You know,” they continued, “when TJ beat your ass and you went down in one hit? Did you know someone got that on video? I can send you the link.”

Micheal was already storming towards them. “Walk away now and I won’t break your fucking arm, sound fair?”

Douchebag had finally gotten to his feet and moved off the bleachers, though he stopped somewhere closer to Lark. Lark Jr was left waddling around on one of the seats. 

Finch didn’t drop the smirk. “I can’t exactly walk in these things. Do you want me to take them off?”

Lark moved silently back towards the bleachers with all the attention on Finch. He expected Kimberly to make a move, but she looked between all the people before her, seemed to decide she was tired of it, and sat down on one of the seats. She took a cigarette from her pocket and didn’t pay Lark any heed as he gingerly scooped Lark Jr up.

He looked over at Finch, who nodded, before breaking out into a sprint. 

Douchebag noticed his escape first and called it to attention with a loud “hey!”

Lark only looked back once — in time to see Finch barrel past Micheal, knocking him to the ground, and continuing past him. Douchebag was running close behind him, but not close enough that Lark was worried he’d be caught.

With Lark running across the field and Finch skating around its concrete perimeter, they both met at the other side around the same time.

“Pass the kid.” Finch said, and Lark handed over the duck without thinking twice about it. “I gotta go the long way around, meet you in the teacher’s parking lot.”

Lark didn’t have time to argue before Finch was already gone, going off on a path that led back towards the school. He didn’t have time to even  _ think _ about it either, or else Douchebag would catch up with him. 

He continued forward into the small forest separating the football field and the parking lots, pushing past thorns and brambles. He gained a few extra cuts and scrapes here and there, but nothing major. The forest put quite a bit of distance between Lark and the boy chasing after him. Douchebag was definitely a stronger opponent than him, but he was far,  _ far  _ faster. Plus he had  _ nothing  _ on the Oak-Twin Rough Terrain experience Lark had.

He reached the general parking lot pretty quickly, not looking around for Finch as he continued towards the teacher’s parking lot further away. He didn’t think of anything but the destination ahead of him, the thunderous footsteps behind him and the stinging of his face fading into nothing. 

There was only one person in the entire parking lot — Principal Owens. She was in the process of trying to close the boot of her car while balancing a box on her hip.

Lark skidded to a halt beside her at the same time that Finch pulled up beside him with a spinout stop.

Principal Owens jumped at their sudden appearance, dropping her box and shooting them both a dirty look. “Did you two need something?”

Lark simply pointed at the two boys running towards them. Douchebag seemed to notice first, and came to a sudden stop, while Micheal was far further away.

“They’re chasing after us, Lark is hurt, Lark’s brother is sitting hurt in one of the school bathrooms. You can probably guess what’s going on.” Finch said.

Both boys had run off now, but Lark was sure Ms Owens had seen them both. 

Lark caught on to what Finch was doing. “We know you’re not going to treat Micheal the same way you did TJ when  _ he  _ hurt someone, but now that you’ve got two of the same case on your hand —  _ one  _ with added transphobic bullying — we hope you’ll at least treat TJ the same way you do Micheal.”

Ms Owens crouched down to pick up her box and sighed. Lark  _ knew,  _ by some kind of instinct, that it was a sigh of defeat. She straightened up again, box in hand. “Run along now, I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes.”

Lark gave her a shit-eating grin and Finch nodded to her before they both turned back towards the school. Finch kept an easy pace with Lark’s strides. “Do you need to get any injuries checked out?”

Lark shook his head. “Nah, I’m built like a battering ram.”

“Cool.” Finch replied. “Let’s go find your brother.”

A text to Nick found them the right bathroom and Lark pushed open the door to find Nick and Sparrow sitting on the sink counter, Nick holding Sparrow tight to his chest. 

Lark took Lark Jr from Finch and silently made his way to his brother, holding out the bird in front of him. It took Sparrow a moment of blinking and sitting himself up straight to process, before his eyes widened and he smiled bright, carefully taking his bird son from Lark and bringing him close. He gave him a soft kiss on the head before removing himself from Nick’s hold and handing him the duck. 

After that was done he leapt at Lark, jumping onto him and curling his arms and legs around him quicker than he could react. Lark stumbled back a step or two in an attempt to remain standing, but ended up tethering regardless of his effort and falling onto his butt with an “oof.”

Sparrow was hardly perturbed by the fall, holding on like a goddamn spider monkey. If anything, his grip tightened as he rested his head on Lark’s shoulder.

Lark allowed it, resting his own head on Sparrow’s as he looked around at the others in the room. Nick was looking at Lark Jr like he was trying to solve the mysteries of the universe by looking into his eyes, gingerly petting his plumage with a singular finger.

When his gaze fell to Finch, still at the door, the other kid held up two fingers in the peace sign before rolling away.

Lark watched them go, and there was a small part of him that wished he didn’t have to.


	9. Be Gay, Do Crime!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ducknapping 2: electric boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the prose feels WACK tonight but I do not wish to rewrite so take it!!
> 
> tw: I don’t know exactly what to give this for but once you reach the paragraph in italics, it describes lark’s time under the rubble caused by the pyramids. I’m not sure of the exact warnings to give but it’s totally skippable if it makes you uncomfortable, just move to where the italics ends!

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Tuesday 17:45

**teejay:** did you guys DO something??

**lovewolf:** why do you ask my very good friend tj :)

**teejay:** mom got a call from the school. I’m still suspended until thursday but it’s going to be ‘expunged’ based on my ‘past behaviour as a model student’

**teejay:** sounds like y’all did something 

**miku stan on main:** I mean, sparrow definitely threatened to report ms owens at one point

**lovewolf:** plus lark and finch got micheal caught red handed running after them with lark clearly injured

**thisisthedollarstore:** what did your parents say about your injuries anyway

**POWER:** we told them we got bored and were fighting each other

**lovewolf:** playfighting!

**miku stan on main:** they believed that?

**POWER:** have you MET us???

**miku stan on main:** fair

**lovewolf:** we’re not going to make a whole big deal about it and report it officially, getting tj off the hook was the only real goal

**POWER:** trying to get micheal in trouble would take too long

**lovewolf:** boring!

**POWER:** right

**lovewolf:** even if ms owens asks us if we want to report it we’ll probably say no. but if micheal tries to come at us again, we’ll come at him with full force :)

**POWER:** WE’LL KILL HIM

**lovewolf:** NO

**POWER:** not  _ literally _

**miku stan on main:** I think we could do with a boy’s night

**teejay:** definitely 

**thisisthedollarstore:** my house this time probably 

**miku stan on main:** that works

**lovewolf:** can I bring lark jr? +one

**thisisthedollarstore:** ofc

**thisisthedollarstore:** cant get enough of that funky little dude lmao

**POWER:** we’ll be a little late, we’re getting the second duck

**miku stan on main:** why do you need a second duck

**lovewolf:** because if I leave lark jr alone without another duck for company he will DIE of loneliness 

**POWER:** not true

**lovewolf:** YES TRUE

**POWER:** shut up I found your stupid heat lamp thing

**lovewolf:** okay i’m COMING 

Tuesday 17:51 — The Pet Store

Sparrow was sulking. According to the cashier, the store policy was that a minimum of two ducklings needed to be bought together. Not even the presentation of Lark Jr would change his mind.

Lark didn’t need to hear Sparrow say he didn’t want three ducks and wouldn’t compromise on that point, he knew by some sort of twin-tuition that more than two was  _ not  _ an option.

Sparrow bought the other necessities for the arrival of the second duck regardless (thank you, money stolen from father’s wallet), but still he dragged Lark back towards where the ducks were being held so he could take another look.

There was a girl in a wheelchair by the small wooden enclosure that held the ducklings. Lark would’ve ignored her if it weren’t for the horribly bright colours that caught his eye. Short choppy blonde hair splattered with pink, clothes neon and every colour of rainbow, makeup like a business-casual clown. It was a  _ bold  _ look, and one he’d seen before.

It took him a moment to place the style and her face, but once he did he couldn’t stop himself from speaking aloud. “Bee?”

The girl from Finch’s photos.

She glanced over and caught Lark staring back.

Sparrow looked all around them. “There’s a bee?”

She wheeled herself closer and smiled up at Lark. “Do we know each other?”

“Uh, no.” Lark answered before he could think to lie about it.

Her eyes widened and she gasped excitedly. “Are you  _ psychic?” _

Sparrow looked to him with equal amazement. “Are you?”

“No, I’m  _ obviously  _ not. I just saw her in some photos.”

She didn’t seem perturbed by the information at all. “Photos… Oh! We’re insta mutuals!”

It would be an easy lie to go with, but Lark felt like he had a reputation to maintain as someone who would never use instagram ever — even to complete strangers. “Definitely not.” He said. “You’re in some photos at Finch’s place.”

“Oh!” She chirped, clasping her hands together with a smile. After a moment of thought her smile faltered a little and her hands drooped over. “You’re uh- you’re friends of Finch’s then, huh?”

“Yes!” Sparrow said at the same time that Lark replied with a solid “No.”

She looked between the two of them, slightly bemused. “Well, any friend of Finch’s is a friend of mine! I’m Bee.” She said, before holding her hand out to Sparrow.

“Sparrow.” He replied, shaking her hand overenthusiastically. He pointed to his brother. “That’s Lark.”

“Nice to meet you both!” She said as she released her grip on Sparrow’s hand. “Are you guys getting anything?”

Sparrow shrugged. “We were going to get a second duck but  _ apparently  _ you need to buy two at the same time.”

“Aww!” She exclaimed. “You have a duck?”

Sparrow smiled bright and removed his other hand from his hoodie pocket (‘his’ was actually just a very strange way of saying ‘Grant’s’) to reveal Lark Jr sitting asleep in his palm.

“ _ Wow _ , look at the little guy…” Bee whispered, and Lark could almost  _ see  _ the stars in her eyes. She didn’t take her gaze off the snoozing duckling for a minute. “I was thinking of getting some of these little guys myself, but it’d be awkward trying to handle more than one walking out of here.”

There was a small blip that went off on a certain radar in Lark’s head. The same radar that went off when Nick’s was shoving hot topic buttons into his pockets or Paeden had just gotten back from stabbing someone.

He looked to Sparrow, who gave him a look in return that confirmed he was thinking the same thing. 

“You were going to steal a duck.” Lark said.

She looked up at the two of them and her easy smile turned a shade more sly. “ _ Me? Stealing~?  _ Never.” 

Lark laughed. “You were seriously going to steal a  _ duck?” _

She shrugged. “I was thinking about it. But I don’t think I have the emotional maturity to become a mother duck at such a young age.” She looked back faux-wistfully at the duck enclosure. “One day…”

Sparrow patted her hand sympathetically. “You should only become a parent when you know you’re ready for it.”

She nodded. “You’re right…but hey, you needed a second duck, right?”

Sparrow grinned wide. “You want to steal one for us?”

“Sure,” Bee replied, “I mean, it’s so easy that I might as well, you know? If anybody was looking for missing ducks would they look to the two rowdy- uh, pronouns?”

“He/him.” Lark answered.

“... Yeah.” Sparrow agreed with a moment’s hesitation. 

“Well, would they look to the two of you who  _ scream  _ ‘rowdy boy troublemakers’ or would they look to the  _ poor, innocent  _ girl in the wheelchair?” She looked extremely proud of herself. “Using ableism against people is something that can actually be so personal.”

“Do we need to do anything to help?” Lark asked.

“Nah,” she replied with a dismissive swish of her hand, “just pick out one of these good good lads!”

Sparrow wondered over to the enclosure and looked down at the tiny birds inside before he hummed in thought. “There’s this tiny guy in the corner over there.” He said, pointing.

Bee moved to his side and looked through the glass front. “I see ‘em. You guys head out, I’ll meet you outside somewhere. You’re too suspicious to have around me.”

Sparrow nodded. “Thanks so much, Bee!”

“Not a problem!”

Lark walked in step with Sparrow as he made a move towards the exit, but stole a quick glance back at Bee. Noticing his gaze on her, she stuck out her pierced tongue at him. He quickly returned the gesture before turning back around.

They found a sitting area a little ways away from the pet shop and sat there to wait. Sparrow spent his time talking in a low voice to a still-sleepy Lark Jr, while Lark himself turned to his phone for entertainment. Subway Surfers was coming back into fashion thanks to a TikTok trend and he was  _ all  _ for it.

Bee was clearly stalling a bit before she followed after them, but it wasn’t too long a wait before she was exiting the store and making her way over to them. 

Sparrow looked at her with expecting, shining eyes, near bouncing in his seat. Her smile still bright, she reached into one of the ridiculously large pockets of her shorts and carefully pulled out the absolute fluffball of a duck.

“You guys better get that dude home soon.” She said. “That’s a  _ baby  _ baby.”

“Definitely.” Sparrow agreed with a solemn nod as he placed both ducks down in the box he’d picked out earlier. “Thanks so much again, Bee!”

“Anytime.” She replied, with a quick two-finger salute.

Lark  _ wanted  _ to ask her so much now that she was here in front of him. Why had she and Finch stopped talking? Did she know what had happened to Finch? Even just, ‘what was Finch like when they were younger?’

As per usual, he ended up saying the first thing that came to mind without much thought behind it. “Finch said you two don’t really talk anymore.”

Her smile dropped completely this time, her face melding into something closer to a sad puppy dog. “I mean,  _ they  _ don’t.”

Lark narrowed his eyes. “What does—“

“When you see Finch again,” she spoke over him, “tell them to text me back sometime? And that I don’t blame them?”

Lark opened his mouth to speak again, but Sparrow elbowed him hard before replying himself. “We will.”

Her smile returned, though it was more somber than before. “Thanks… I, uh- I appreciate it.”

Sparrow jumped up from the seat and gestured for Lark to follow. He assumed that if both of Sparrow’s hands weren’t full with handling the duck box, he would've simply been dragged to his feet. 

“No problem.” Sparrow said as Lark got to his feet. “It was really nice meeting you!”

“You too!” She returned. 

They parted after that, the twins heading one way and Bee the other. After a few steps, Lark looked back one more time at the girl. She had stopped, only a few paces from where they had been talking, and had her head in her hands.

Lark wanted to say something to her, but turned back around instead and continued walking. He’d probably just make it worse anyway.

Wednesday 3:43 — The Close Residence

_ Pressure. _

_ Everything was pressing down on him with force he had never felt before, and he knew that he was close to dying. Each mouthful of air felt like a breathful of nothing but dust that left him coughing until he was so drowsy he was unable to do even that. Each bone in his body felt broken, each muscle strained against the weight of the rock around him, blood was gathering in pools but had nowhere to escape to.  _

_ Lark had been hurt before, but this was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Never had pain been so unending and merciless, never had it so gripped his thoughts and refused to let him think about anything else. This was not pain, he knew, because pain was something he was familiar with. This was death. This was what dying felt like. _

_ He wished dying was easier. He didn’t want to die, of course, but he wished it didn’t take so long. If only a rock had hit his head harder, he might’ve been fully unconscious right now instead of being trapped in this semi-conscious hellscape. If he had been unconscious, it would’ve been far easier to let go. He supposed that was the point. His body was just as stubborn as he was. _

_ The weight was suddenly lifted from one of his hands, which he instantly snaked about despite his body’s protests. Someone had found him at last, but it was far too late. His body’s stubbornness couldn’t last forever and his thoughts were gradually getting less and less concrete — like static had infected his brain and was slowly laying claim to all his words.  _

_ Just there, at the cliff’s edge of death, he woke up. _

Lark never woke from nightmares with a start like people did in movies. He very slowly returned to reality, blinking open his eyes and instinctively feeling around for his brother.

He found nothing. Sparrow had been lying beside him on the floor when they fell asleep earlier that night. Where was he now?

It was only then that Lark heard voices. There were other people awake, hushedly whispering to one another in the dark. Lark quickly closed his eyes again and froze in place.

“What if he gets tired of me?”  _ There _ was Sparrow.

“He’s not going to get tired of you.” TJ.

“But,” Sparrow continued, “but we’re so different now! Why would he want to stick around me when he thinks everything I do is boring? I mean, I mean, I mean— I’m a pacifist! That’s what Lark  _ hates.” _

_ Oh. _

They were talking about  _ him. _

“ _ Sparrow,”  _ TJ said slowly, “I know you used to be very similar when you were little, but it’s not a  _ bad  _ thing that you’re different people. Anyone who’s known you two for even a second knows that you’re the most important person to Lark. You guys being a little different isn't going to change that.”

“But what if we want to do different things?”

“Then you’ll do different things, it won’t change anything.”

“I’m just scared.” Sparrow said, in a voice softer than Lark had ever heard from him.

“Of?”

“That once we do more that are different… he won’t want to do things that are the same? Do things together, I mean. I’m scared we won’t be...  _ connected _ anymore.”

“Dude.” TJ replied. “You’re the Oak twins. You’re always going to be connected to each other no matter what happens in your own special, terrifying, chaotic way. It might just change a little.”

“I don’t want to be away from him.” Sparrow said, and he sounded close to crying.

“That’s totally normal. You’ve been together so long it’s—“

“No, but it’s just that- it’s just that, that every time he’s not there, I feel like he’s in trouble. Like when I find him again he’s going to be dead because I wasn’t there beside him.”

Lark got it now. The movie they’d watched earlier had made the same impact on Sparrow that it had him. None of them had seen the movie before, and hadn’t known about the avalanche the protagonist had gotten trapped beneath halfway through the film. Lark was fine at the time, but his sleep had been plagued with nothing but thoughts of the pyramid. Obviously Sparrow had been brought back to the same moment. 

“I get that.” TJ said.

“You do?”

“Not exactly, but I worry about you guys all the time. That you and Lark will get an injury you can’t just walk away from or Paeden will end up fighting the wrong person or Nick will get involved with a bad group or Grant will do something stupid to himself… but I can’t just wrap you guys in bubblewrap. All of us need to go our own ways, even you and Lark. You can’t know that something won’t happen, but all you can do is be there for them if they need it. Lark needs his space just as much as you need Lark, you can’t be joined at the hip forever.”

“I know…”

“It’s getting late, and you guys still have school in the morning. We should talk about this another time when you’re more awake.”

Sparrow made a short noise of protest. “Sleep is for the weak!”

“Get some rest,  _ stupid,  _ or you  _ will  _ be weak.”

Sparrow chuckled as quietly as he could manage and then there was some shifting of fabric as he moved closer to Lark again.

“Night, TJ.” Sparrow whispered.

“Night.” TJ returned, a warmth to his voice that soothed any of the remaining jitters Lark had after his restless dream.

After a bit of fumbling, Sparrow found Lark’s hand in the dark and held it tight. And if he noticed Lark squeezing it back, neither of them said anything about it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha you see,,, the behaviour of ducklings,,, is a metaphor for sparrow’s separation anxiety,,, r/iamverysmart
> 
> me trying to balance making sparrow sound rambly and tired while also trying to write dialogue that isn’t just dogshit: uhhhhhh


	10. another bridging chapter? haha, fuuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they go to a sick ass water for five minutes, sparrow freaks finch out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get this chapter out of my SIGHT i want to write the next one please and thank you very much
> 
> not editing this one in the slightest. fuck you

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Wednesday 9:32 

**thisisthedollarstore:** come with me after school to get inspiration for a new song

**miku stan on main:** come where

**thisisthedollarstore:** dunno yet

 **thisisthedollarstore:** wherever the wind takes us man

 **thisisthedollarstore:** just leave school and start walking

**miku stan on main:** you know what? sure

**thisisthedollarstore:** terry j my dude you can meet up with us too

**teejay:** cool

**POWER:** I’ll have to bring finch because they’re stupid and locked themselves out of the house and their dad won’t be back until eight

**thisisthedollarstore:** if they want to come sure

**lovewolf:** alas, I cannot come

 **lovewolf:** I want to stay with lark jr for a bit until he’s friendly enough with sparrow jr that I can leave him alone for longer

 **lovewolf:** they’re going to be best friends forever

**POWER:** until one of them dies

**lovewolf:** D:

**POWER:** which they won’t because ducks are immortal?

**lovewolf:** better!

POWER > finch 9:37 

**POWER:** nick is bringing the boys on an inspiration walk to no one knows where yet. do you want to come?

**finch:** sounds good

 **finch:** so you’re just… walking anywhere?

**POWER:** unless you have a better idea??

**finch:** how long should this inspiration walk last for?

**POWER:** knowing nick?? a couple of hours for zero reason

**finch:** tight

 **finch:** I know this sick ass waterfall that’s like an hour’s walk away from the school

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Wednesday 9:40 

**POWER:** finch apparently knows about a cool waterfall

 **POWER:** pretty fucking presumptuous of them to assume we’d also think it was a cool waterfall but okay

**teejay:** hey lark? calm down

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh legit lets do that then

finch > lovewolf 16:12 

**finch:** how are my nephews?

**lovewolf:** good! they’re getting along!

**finch:** love to hear it

**lovewolf:** how’s your inspiration walk

**finch:** good! they’re getting along!

**lovewolf:** djdjsjsk

**finch:** I wanted to ask you something though because you’re the only one who won’t think this is a stupid question

**lovewolf:** very very intriguing, go ahead friend finch

**finch:** okay so nick made a joke about the forest’s ‘kidnapper vibes’ giving him inspiration for his new song and then tj said something like ‘yeah, you could make a song about faerun’?? and then grant said ‘eww stop man I can feel myself getting possessed all over again’

 **finch:** I cannot figure out what this inside joke is

 **finch:** did you guys have a super intense d&d session or what

**lovewolf:** oh hmm

 **lovewolf:** I might talk to the others first before I tell you too much buuuuut

 **lovewolf:** if we’re talking about faerun we’re talking about a time that a lot of bad things happened

**finch:** okay let me preface this by saying you can totally choose to ignore this or lie about the answer if you want 

**finch:** actually no I’m gonna leave that one

**lovewolf:** the answer is no, faerun didn’t have kidnapper vibes we were kidnapped the literal way

**finch:** I thought you wanted to talk to the other boys first about it?

**lovewolf:** sure, about other stuff! I don’t think any of us really care about the actual kidnappings themselves too much

**finch:** kidnappings plural???

**lovewolf:** yeah like, more than one

**finch:** are you guys okay??

**lovewolf:** sure! I mean there was some other stuff too but the actual kidnappings were fine

**finch:** this isn’t me saying I don’t believe you but this isn’t a joke or something, right?

**lovewolf:** nope!

**finch:** holy fuck

 **finch:** I’m sorry that happened to you

**lovewolf:** it’s fine!

**finch:** so, should I keep the fact I know this to myself until you talk to the others?

**lovewolf:** I mean, might be a bit weird if you brought it up randomly!

**finch:** right 

**lovewolf:** anyway, have a good walk!!

**finch:** yeah thanks

POWER > lovewolf 16:21 

**POWER:** did a duck die or something

**lovewolf:** WHAT

**POWER:** finch was on their phone a minute ago and now they look SHOOK

 **POWER:** were you texting them?

**lovewolf:** I was! but not about a dead duck

 **lovewolf:** if a duck had died you would’ve been the first person to know!

**POWER:** cool

 **POWER:** so how did you traumatise finch

**lovewolf:** mmmmmmmmm oh! I told them we had been kidnapped twice!

**POWER:** WHY

**lovewolf:** BECAUSE?

**POWER:** you don’t just tell people that!!! stupid!

**lovewolf:** why not???? stupid

**POWER:** beCAUSE

**lovewolf:** I didn’t tell them anything big, just about the amount of times we were kidnapped!!

**POWER:** ughhhhh now they’re going to be awkward around us and it’s YOUR FAULT

**lovewolf:** XP

**POWER:** you’re so stupid!!!

**lovewolf:** no u!!

**POWER:** no u!!!!!!!

**lovewolf:** go talk to them about it if you’re so good with words stupid

**POWER:** :////

**lovewolf:** YEAH

**POWER:** i’m at a pretty waterfall and you’re not, fuck you

**lovewolf:** I have my two duck sons and they are the MOST beautiful things in the world so 

**POWER:** hate you bye

**lovewolf:** <3!

Wednesday 16:49 - the sick ass waterfall 

The group chilled by the waterfall for quite some time. There was some drifting idle chatter, but for the most part they were content to sit there watching the steady flow of water or doing something on their phones. Lark was on Team Phones for the most part, but he liked the way the water from the waterfall occasionally crashed down towards the surface of the river hard enough to bounce droplets onto his bare hands.

“Hey, man,” Nick said, nodding Finch’s way. Finch seemed to sense he was talking to them and looked up from where they had been stringing daisies together into a chain. “What’s that path over there?” 

He lazily gestured towards an overgrown, but still still visible, dirt path. Finch shrugged. “It should lead back towards the road, but I’ve never been down it.”

“Then let’s go!” Lark decided, jumping to his feet. “I was bored anyway.”

Finch and Nick followed his lead. TJ and Grant exchanged a glance, and then TJ was getting up and brushing the dirt from his trousers. He offered a hand to Grant and pulled him to his feet.

For the most part, following the path just involved shoving through brambles and not much adventure. Trees tend to all look the same when you’re walking through a forest of them. Lark had taken the lead, and brought the group to a halt as the path faded into the grass.

“Should we just keep going straight?” Grant asked.

“I think the road should be somewhere that way… but I don’t know.” Finch said, pointing at an angle to the path. “We could split up and call each other if we find something.”

They all agreed to that pretty easily. TJ and Nick opted to follow Grant, while Lark followed after Finch.

They walked in silence long enough to annoy Lark. The ‘not talking’ thing was the absolute worst thing of their _things._ Mostly because Lark blamed himself for not being able to fill the silence. This was completely on Sparrow this time, of course. Were it not for Lark thinking about Finch being privy to their kidnappings, he would absolutely know what to talk about. He was at least 46% certain of it.

Lark took a deep breath and started to speak without thinking. “Sparrow said he-“

“Hey, look.”

Finch was pointing at something. Lark looked ahead to see the forest open up into a concrete courtyard. Further up along the way was a squat bungalow that had been completely hidden away by the trees of the forest. Like Finch had predicted, a dirt driveway led from the house to the road sat just a stone’s throw away.

Lark rested his arms on the rusted gate leading into the courtyard, letting it take his weight. He scanned the place for anything interesting. There wasn’t much to look at bar the wilted flowers dying in sill boxes and the chicken poking around their coop in a far corner near the house.

“Sparrow’d love the chickens.” Lark said.

“Yeah.” Finch agreed, and for a brief moment the silence wasn’t _agonising._

That was, until it was interrupted.

“FUCK!” Nick’s yell cut across the forest. “JESUS- FUCK- _SHIT!”_

Lark didn’t hesitate. Didn’t check to see if Finch was keeping pace with him. He just ran. Moved past thorns and over roots and under branches like he was on autopilot. He couldn’t even think of what _could_ be wrong, just that there _was_ something wrong and he needed to be there to make it right. 

Finding the split party didn’t take very long seeing as how Nick’s usual low speaking voice had been replaced by violent sobbing and swearing, getting louder the closer Lark got.

He stopped with a skid as he reached the three of them. Grant was holding Nick tight to his chest, trying to console the teen who was trying to maintain his cool aura by swearing to cover up the sobbing. The tears beginning to stream down his face definitely killed whatever effect he was going for.

TJ was fiddling with something silver by Nick’s foot, but Lark could hardly see it. He couldn’t draw his eyes away from the _red._ The red that coated Nick’s leg and stained his jeans and just touched the grass enough to leave the blades tipped with a sharp scarlet. 

There wasn’t too much, but it was all Lark could see. Like a giant flashing neon sign that read ‘DANGER!’ He felt so disconnected from it all that it took a moment for Lark’s brain to properly connect that Nick was bleeding. 

_Ah._

Not good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finch up until nick got hurt: multiple kidnappings... multiple kidnappings... multiple kidnappings...
> 
> This chapter was going to be longer but I wanted to leave the rest for the next chapter tbh so here we are. 
> 
> Nick is the sobber of the gang and you can't tell me otherwise. Grant would get hurt and just be like 'you know what? just kill me instead. hate this pain shit bro, im sick of it'. the twins would barely process anything beyond a gunshot and tj would just be like 'okay OKAY oKAY OKay OKAY'. Don't @ me bc i'm tiredd
> 
> Next Chapter: oh fuck now i gotta actually bring this together oh shit oh fuck OR yeah here's your fucking finch backstory you dumb whores, but you get it through shitty exposition dialogue


	11. oop!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best not to be TOO horrible to y’all... as a treat !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look, look, look, it’s not AS sad as you think it’s going to be. It’s fine actually because none of the prose went to describing emotions fjdjdjdjdj

Wednesday 17:27 — The Forest

Lark had been the one tasked with running back to the small house while Finch brought the others there at a slower pace. Tasked by himself, of course, because he was someone who liked to  _ do  _ things rather than have to go at a steady enough pace that his thoughts could catch up with him.

Grant has said the bear trap that had clamped shut on Nick’s leg was illegal. That no rubber coating on the steel probably meant that whoever set it didn’t care much for not hurting the animals. His exact words were “What kinda sick fuck-?”

Whoever had set them didn’t matter much right now though, because Nick wasn’t a bear and as such, couldn’t take a steel trap to the leg like one. TJ had managed to get the trap off by pressing down on the springs once they couldn’t figure out how to pull the stake from the ground, but that sped up the blood flow. They weren’t in dangerous blood loss territory yet, but the quicker they moved, the further away they were from ever reaching it.

Lark’s imagination ran away from him a lot. He’d imagine the long braid of the girl sitting in front of him in class catching on the lit bunsen burner on his desk or slamming someone’s head into a table or an image of what real bleach would do to hair. Sometimes he wouldn’t be thinking too hard about it and something would get burnt or someone would be hurt, but most of the time the thoughts just sat there as if he was watching a movie of every different ‘what if?’ there was.

Right now he was thinking of a film he had once seen with bear traps. It was unrealistic, he knew, the way the jaws slammed shut like shark teeth, biting the hero’s hand straight off. It was unrealistic, but so was everything in movies, and it was cool — so he remembered it. And the remembering crossed over with the present day thinking until all Lark could picture was Nick with no leg at all. Kinda funny, but mostly dead.

When he reached the clearing once again, he didn’t bother opening the gate. With the practise of someone who learned to jump gates to get in and out of fields with angry bulls in them (the someone, of course, was also him), Lark pushed his hands down on the top bar of the gate and hoisted himself over with ease. He ran across the courtyard and to the door of the bungalow. 

Lark tried to make as much noise as possible. He rang the doorbell an excessive amount, slammed on the door over and over, and yelled “HEY!” too many times to count. If anyone  _ had  _ just been ignoring him, they would’ve been too annoyed to continue hiding by the time he decided he was done. No one home.

He tried his phone. No bars. He had known the cell phone signal here was weak, but at least near the waterfall he’d had one or two. Still, just because  _ his  _ network service was shitty, didn’t mean he couldn’t make an emergency call. He dialed 911 and waited.

The call failed.

Wow! Fuck! Absolute nightmare hellscape worst of the worst shit fuck scenario. Wonderful.

He could try going back along the path to find a signal, but if it didn’t connect until he reached the waterfall then it would be at least ten or fifteen minutes just to get there. Plus he didn’t know where they actually  _ were _ to tell the operator _.  _ PLUS he wouldn’t be able to talk about Nick’s condition to the call receiver properly unless he wanted to be inaccurate or lose his signal again.

He moved around to the side of the house. The only real thing of interest besides an empty bucket and long forgotten wellies ditched in the dirt was a jeep tinged with some sort of familiarity. The dark red paint had worn off in places, but it was clean as a whistle. Somebody obviously still drove it then. 

“Lark?” Grant’s voice called out as the swing of the courtyard gate’s rusted hinges creaked loud enough for Lark to hear from the other side of the house.

“Over here!” He called back, running back around the house and meeting them halfway.

He didn’t give the others a chance to speak once he reached them. “No one’s here and there’s no cell phone signal but there  _ is  _ a car.”

TJ looked at him exasperated, shared a glance with Grant, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Wait,” Finch said, confused, “What’s okay?”

Lark didn’t explain, just ran back to the jeep and immediately shattered the window by the driver’s seat (no alarm — finally one good thing), before reaching through and unlocking the door. He brushed as much broken glass off his seat as he could before putting his jacket down on top on it in case there was any left. He quickly unlocked and opened the passenger side door and one of the doors in the back seat, then jumped back to the driver’s seat and set to work.

It was actually Nick’s dad that taught him how to hotwire a car. Their own father had been distracted with making vegan options for the joint barbecue they were having and Glenn thought it was an essential life skill they should know.

It had only been one car (Ron’s), of course, but it sparked something in Lark that led him to researching more about it until he knew the wire colours of every car that was parked by the school that was old enough to hotwire without a drill. He had stopped eventually, everything grew boring after a while for him, but retained the knowledge and carried a screwdriver and wire strippers with him every other day (a fact the rest of the group discovered way back when they were all still on the soccer team and the mom of one of the other kids dropped her car keys down a drain. Lark thought he was being helpful when he offered to start her engine so she could go home to get her spare).

Today was, very thankfully, one of the days Lark decided to carry the tools with him and the jeep was, very thankfully, one of the models he knew the wire colours of.

By the time Grant and TJ managed to drag Nick into the car, Lark already had the engine started. Nick’s sobbing had quietened a little to the point it almost just felt like background noise. They were busy trying to find their way around the seatbelts when Lark realised Finch wasn’t with them. He looked around to catch them standing just outside the open passenger side door.

They caught each other’s gaze. “I should just stay here.” Finch said.

“And be here when whoever owns this jeep gets back? Sounds fun.” Lark shot back.

“I’ll go back home or something.”

“And stay outside until your dad gets back because you’ve no keys?”

“I  _ can’t—“ _

Lark sighed. “Yes, this is very illegal but boohoo, Nick is kinda  _ bleeding  _ out? So whatever kind of moral conundrum you’re having can wait for two fucking seconds.”

“But—“

“ _ Dude. _ ” Lark insisted. “Come on, we’ve got to  _ go. _ ”

Finch looked from Lark to Nick in the back seat and then, after a moment more of hesitation, got in and closed the door behind them. It was only after Lark pushed down on the accelerator that he realised that the look Finch had given him was one of fear, but he didn’t exactly have the time to unpack that all right then and there.

Lark most definitely didn’t have a licence, but he did know how to drive at least. He had practiced a few times, to his father’s chagrin, after they’d left the forgotten realms, and had only crashed on a half dozen occasions.

Not crashing took  _ focus  _ though, so as soon as he pulled out onto the road it was as if tunnel vision kicked in. All he could see was the road in front of him, and even the voices of the other people in the car drifted through his head so unprocessed that he could hardly tell who was saying what. 

“TJ, you need to put more pressure on it.”

“I’m  _ putting _ pressure on it!”

He wasn’t familiar with the road he was on now, but he knew the general direction he needed to go in. Once they reached more familiar road work, it would be smooth sailing. Lark was more than familiar with different routes to the hospital after the amount of times he or Sparrow broke something.

“No, you need to put pressure— are they okay?”

“Finch? Are you okay?”

Main roads again. Recognisable. He knew where he was going. Just  _ focus, focus, focus. _

“Finch, I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay? In for four-“

“TJ, the  _ pressure.” _

“The pressure’s  _ fine.  _ Now, c’mon, in for four…”

_ Focus.  _ A right. A left. Another left. Traffic lights.Traffic lights taking too fucking long to turn green.

“Finch, can you hear me? Do you think you can name five things you can see?”

“— don’t know...“

“it’s okay, you…”

“so stupid…”

“no, you’re-“

“— sorry, so sorry…”

Crying.

He was only getting pieces of the conversation now but still, he wasn’t really comprehending any of it. All the mattered was the road. 

Green light.

“I’m  _ putting  _ pressure on it!”

“Maybe we should—“

“— so fucking stupid…”

Lark swung in the hospital parking lot without much grace and brought them as close to the hospital as possible. It kicked in just how tightly he was clutching the wheel and how tense his muscles had gone, and finally now that they were  _ here  _ he could breathe again.

“Lark.” There was a hand on his shoulder and he was suddenly tugged back into comprehension.

He looked to TJ.

“I need you to take care of Finch while we help Nick, okay? Can you do that?”

Finch?

Lark looked around where TJ was leaning forward to look at the person in the passenger seat and finally he could  _ see  _ Finch properly. They were hunched over and shaking, their hair more astray than usual and bullets of sweat pouring off of them. Their breathing was too deep and too quick, and Lark watched as a tear droplet slid off their cheek onto their trembling legs. 

“Okay.” Lark said, even though he didn’t know what to do.

TJ and Grant were out of the car like a flash, carrying Nick between them and moving towards the hospital as fast as they could manage.

He watched them leave before he tried to look at Finch again.

“Hey—“ he began, which seemed to snap Finch into  _ some  _ sort of reality. They looked at Lark with wide panicked eyes and fresh tears, and released the tight grip they had on their seatbelt and the grab handle by their door. They struggled to find the button to open their seat belt for a fumbled moment before they finally got it. Now free they slammed open their door and stumbled their way out of the car.

For a second, Lark was sure they were going to run. Then Finch near collapsed against the car and let themself slide down slowly until they hit the ground.

With a frown, Lark left the car and walked around it to find Finch curled up with their knees to their chest.

Hesitant at first, Lark carefully sat down beside them. For a moment he just watched as Finch struggled to control their breathing and their tears, and then he tried to remember what to do. 

What was it someone said in the car? ‘In for four’? Lark had a vague memory of the technique being used before. Usually when one of them was exposed to something on their Big List of things to avoid talking or watching movies about. Was it 4-5-6? 4-6-5? 4-8-7?

“Uh, hey, finch.” He said. “Think you can do some breathing stuff with me?”

Finch didn’t say anything, but they nodded and that was enough.

“Okay, breathe in for four.” They followed.

“Hold for seven.”

“Out for eight.” 

Finch exhaled heavily and Lark repeated it again and continued repeating until Finch’s breathing was more steady.

“Do you want to do some, you know, grounding techniques?” He asked, because it was something TJ liked to ask, and Finch nodded. “Okay, cool. Tell me five things you can see.”

It took Finch a moment. “The uh- the hospital?”

“Yeah.”

“The… the asphalt… you… my- my hands. Cars?”

“Tight.” Lark nodded. “I think the next one is sound? No. Touch. Four things you can feel.”

“... the ground… the wind. fucking- I feel sweaty. I can’t… I can’t think of another one.”

Lark wasn’t sure if there was a rule to grounding techniques about skipping a number, but he supposed missing one was okay. “Three things you hear.”

Finch inhaled deeply and let their head fall back to rest against the car. “You. Me. There’s an ambulance siren kinda far away.”

“Okay.” Lark said. “The next one is two smells.”

“This is stupid.”

“If you don’t want to do it—“

“I can’t even think of  _ one _ smell.” Finch closed their eyes and balled their fists up tight where they rested on their stomach.

“I guess it was the wrong thing to try. I’m not very good at this stuff.” Lak admitted.

“It’s not  _ you.”  _ Finch said before they opened their eyes again and looked his way. “That stuff  _ did  _ help. I’m just— I can’t even do grounding techniques right, that’s  _ pathetic.” _

Lark frowned. “It’s just some stupid exercise.”

Finch looked away. 

Okay.  _ Not  _ just some stupid exercise.

Lark leaned back against the car too, not looking away from Finch. They had stopped crying, but the tears were still fresh on their face and shone as they caught the light.

“I’m sorry…” Finch said, at last, in a whisper.

“For what?”

Finch sniffled and tried to whip some of the tears from their cheeks. “If I had just convinced the others to follow me instead of suggesting to split up…”

“You’re sorry for Nick getting hurt?” 

“... a little, yeah.”

Lark was, quite honestly, astonished. “Dude,  _ what?  _ You had no idea what was that way. You didn’t even know your way was the right way at the time! It’s whoever put those stupid traps there that’s to blame! Fuck them! Is  _ that  _ why you’re upset?”

“I mean, I got Nick hurt and then I couldn’t even step up enough to avoid having a breakdown because of a dumb car ride? It’s  _ pathetic.” _

“So, it’s the car?” Lark asked.

Finch seemed close to not responding, then nodded.

Lark hesitated. They were on touchy ground now, but then again, what part of this conversation  _ hadn’t  _ been that way so far? “Do you… want to talk about it?”

Finch didn’t say anything, just looked ahead at the hospital with slightly glazed over eyes. Lark swore he saw new tears welling up.

There was something the boys did sometimes when they needed to talk to other people about their problems. Each of them would speak about something so the ones who were more hesitant to speak could feel more comfortable doing so. Even when they didn’t choose to speak, hearing that other people felt bad too could feel good.

“Sparrow told you about the kidnapping stuff earlier, right?”

“... yeah.”

There were so many things that he could talk about that it was hard to pick just one thing. The grandparents? The slavery? The cult?

He finally landed on the one thing that felt the most fitting. “During that time, a  _ lot  _ of stuff happened. This one time… um, this one time a building fell and I got kinda, crushed under the rubble? I got out, obviously, but I thought I was going to die for a while there. Which was… not fun? And sometimes, you know, it’s like, sometimes when I’m in tight spaces it feels like I’m about to die again? And I’m not afraid of death _ ever,  _ okay? But sometimes when I’m in tight spaces I think that maybe I am? A little. And uh… yeah.”

Finch didn’t reply. Didn’t even look at him. He’d fucked up. He’d chosen the complete wrong thing and now Finch was just going to feel worse about themselves! Great!

He wasn’t even sure why he cared. Finch  _ was  _ his enemy, so why didn’t he like them being upset? Shouldn’t he feel stronger seeing his enemy in such a moment of weakness? Perhaps he was just uncomfortable with the dishonour that was fighting on such an uneven playing ground. All he really knew for sure was that Finch being upset made him feel bad in some sort of way and he needed to fix it immediately.

If he hadn’t just fucked it all up, that is.

Lark had reached the point of certainty that Finch would never speak to him again when they finally replied. “Do you remember the girl in those photos in my room?”

“Bee?” Lark asked, despite knowing full well it was. That was just how conversations worked.

“Yeah, her.” Finch said, and it was all they said for a long pause. “We were really shitty kids. Like, really stupid. This one time we were high and drunk off our asses and… and I thought it would be a fun idea to take my dad’s car for a drive, you know? We felt like we could do anything and go anywhere so I said ‘fuck it, let’s do it then’ so we  _ did,  _ even though didn’t really want to and you know…”

There were fresh tears freely spilling down their cheeks now and their voice had gotten a little shaky, but it was nowhere near the state they were at earlier. They sniffed again, bringing their hand to their face and keeping it there.

“Didn’t even make it ten minutes down the fucking road…” Finch continued.

The pieces suddenly clicked together for him. “That’s how you- ...your head? Because you crashed?”

“Yeah… go figure.” They said, with a half-laugh that seemed more angry than anything. “I pushed her into doing it and got away with something I could fix while  _ she  _ can’t walk again. Isn’t that fucked up?”

“I mean… it’s not like you’re  _ fine.  _ You just had a panic attack.”

“I know how it  _ sounds,  _ okay?” Finch said like they were being accused of something. “I  _ should  _ be grateful that I got lucky and everything sounds so  _ small _ compared to the stuff that  _ you alone  _ have gone through and I’m just being  _ stupid—“ _

“You’re not stupid.” Lark defended.

Finch looked his way and Lark couldn’t help but add “well, you’re a  _ little _ stupid.”

Finch smiled despite themself. They sighed, but there was less weight behind it. “It’s just… Bee was my best friend and I completely fucked up her life by being an asshole, you know?”

“She didn’t seem too bad.”

Finch’s gaze quickly snapped his way. “What?”

Lark avoided his eyes. “Well, I sorta met her yesterday at the pet shop with Sparrow.”

“You  _ met  _ Bee?”

“Yeah, she stole a duck for us.”

“Did she… seem okay?”

Lark considered it. “Mostly? She was pretty chirpy in general but she got a little sad when I brought you up.”

Finch gave a defeated smile and shook their head. “She hates me.”

Lark frowned. “I don’t think  _ that’s  _ it. I think she’s just sad that you won’t text her back.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, she told me to tell you to text her, so I’m guessing that’s what she wants you to do.” Lark shrugged.

Finch ran their hand through their hair and brought it away from their face before letting their hand fall again and their shoulders slump further. “Did I fuck up?”

“I think you did just a little.”

Finch smiled again, just for a moment. “I feel bad pulling this shit when Nick’s hurt.”

“Dude, you were  _ triggered,  _ you can’t just… choose not to be. That’s not really how it works, stupid.”

“I guess,” Finch admitted, “but uh, let’s leave the rest of this talk to another day?”

“Sure.” Lark agreed, and was mostly glad since this whole  _ feelings  _ thing was hard work.

“But this whole… this whole talk thing kinda helped. A bit.” Finch said, looking back to Lark with puffy red eyes. “So, thanks.”

There was something about the way they said it, despite the tears and the sweat and the bloodshot eyes, that made Lark’s chest feel full and his cheeks feel warm. “Yeah, no prob…”

“I just realised something though.” Finch continued.

“Hm?”

Finch chuckled. “This is totally Kimberly Woo’s car.”

Kimberly Woo, the muscular cheerleader who had slammed Lark’s head into a pole just yesterday. Not exactly his favourite person.

He laughed. “We’re  _ so  _ fucked!”

“She’s going to fucking kill us.” Finch laughed, still with tears shining on their face.

They laughed together on the rough ground of the hospital parking lot, backs against the stolen car that belonged to the one person in the school who had gotten into more fights than Lark, and even though everything was going wrong… just for a minute, everything seemed okay too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow story arc 1: the mystery of finch complete, fun arc next


	12. intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short chapter to wrap things up so I can jump into the second story arc next chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took so long to write this tiny tiny thing, but I’m looking forward to some stuff coming up so it should be smooth rolling from here.

Wednesday 18:23 — Hospital Parking Lot 

Lark found Nick’s phone in the car after TJ text to ask if it was there. Scrolling through his contacts too far past G (why he had assumed Nick would have his dad under his first name originally he couldn’t tell you) landed him near the K’s instead. He went to scroll back up, but one certain name caught his eye.

He leaned out the door to look at Finch, still sitting on the tarmac, and held up the phone. “Nick has Kimberly’s number.”

Finch scrunched up his face. “Why?”

“Dunno, but I’m going to text her.”

“Don’t text her.”

“I’m going to text her.”

A quick scan of their past messages made it clear Kimberly was a dealer in the school, but he ignored most of their conversations to compose his own text.

  
  


> Kimberly Woo 🌿 — Wed. 18:25 

> Hey kim this isn’t nick this is lark text back it’s important okay bye

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** who

> You hit my head against a pole yesterday

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** oh okay lmao

 **Kimberly Woo 🌿:** what do you want

> You don't so happen to live in a house in the middle of the woods and drive a red jeep, do you?

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** what

> Because if you did I’d have to tell you that i broke your car window, hotwired the thing and now there’s blood all over the seats oops

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** so you want to fucking die is what i’m reading

> I mean preferably no but i am fully willing to battle you over this

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** why the FUCK is there blood in my car

> Uhhhh nick’s leg and a bear trap basically

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** a bear trap?

> Yeah 

> Near your house

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** shit uhh

 **Kimberly Woo 🌿:** i have a deal for you

> Okayyyy

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** have you spoken to the police yet

> Nope

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** if you DO talk to them, tell them that you found the traps at the other side of the woods and i won’t wreck your shit or expect you to pay for whatever damage you did to my car

> Mmmmmmm not enough

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** fucking excuse me???

> Not enough stuff

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** you’re kidding

> It just seems like you’re kinda desperate and im not afraid of a fight OR getting my father to pay for stuff sooooooooo

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** i’ll convince the rich white girls in the school that paying off nick’s medical bills with a fucking gofundme or something will make their chances of becoming prom queen better

> They’d listen to you?

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** i may be violent but rich white girls love me

> Hmm i will talk to the others about it in a bit

> Do you have a discord btw bc texting sucksss

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** i fucking guess

 **Kimberly Woo 🌿:** [discord username]

> Cool byeeeeee

**Kimberly Woo 🌿:** bye pipsqueak 

  
  


Outgoing call 

Nick’s phone > dad B) — Wed. 18:29 

Call failed.

  
  


> dad B) — Wed. 18:29 

> Heyyyy when you get this nick is in the hospital 

> Bear trap went snap idk

> lol anyway call back if you want

  
  


Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Wednesday 18:30 

**POWER:** anyway nick’s dad isn’t picking up yet but i talked to kimberly

**teejay:** who

**POWER:** woo

**Eye Of The Tiger:** what are we celebrating?

**teejay:** why were you talking to kimberly woo???

**POWER:** oh right

 **POWER:** yeah we totally stole her car, it’s pretty funny

**miku stan on main:** that was HER car?? 

**lovewolf:** you stole a CAR?

**Eye Of The Tiger:** VERY cool

**teejay:** look we only stole it because nick got hurt and we needed to get to the hospital

**lovewolf:** NICK GOT HURT?????

**POWER:** kimberly says she won’t fuck us up and will get some rich girls to pay off nick’s medical bills if we don’t say where we found the bear trap to anyone

**Eye Of The Tiger:** dang a bear trap? All the fun happens when the ol’ paedster isn’t around, it’s cool, it’s cool

**POWER:** next time one of us gets caught in a bear trap i’ll send photos

**teejay:** LARK

**Eye Of The Tiger:** appreciate it man

**POWER:** anytime 

**POWER:** anyway i got kimberly’s discord if you guys want to talk to her too

**miku stan on main:** cool lets

**POWER:** i’ll make a server 

**teejay:** you could just make a groupchat

**POWER:** i could just die too, but i’m not planning on it

  
  


Server: POWER’s Server — General 

Wednesday 18:37 

> Welcome **miku stan on main.** Leave your weapons by the door.

> Welcome, **teejay.** We hope you brought pizza.

**teejay:** you didn’t send an invite to paeden did you?

**POWER:** no, I don’t want him fighting kimberly before I can

**teejay:** right.

> **finch** joined your party.

> Brace yourselves. **lovewolf** just joined the server.

> Audit Log: **POWER** made changes to **The Doodlers**

— Set the server name to The Doodlers

> **bitchcentral** just arrived. Seems OP - please nerf.

**bitchcentral:** why tf is the server name the doodlers

**lovewolf:** Praise the almighty Doodler! :)))

**POWER:** one day,,, i will defeat him in legendary battle,,, as it is written

**bitchcentral:** is this a fucking cult or what

**lovewolf:** not anymore!

 **lovewolf:** perhaps one day this world will be ready for it though

**bitchcentral:** bruh

**Finch:** it’s easier to just go with it

**bitchcentral:** any fucking way

**miku stan on main:** we need nick’s vote but we wont rat on you for now

**bitchcentral:** k

**lovewolf:** why are you trying to cover up bear traps anyway aren’t they ILLEGAL

**miku stan on main:** especially the sadistic ass bear traps we found

**POWER:** my sweet brother, you care about legality since WHEN

**finch:** I mean, if they’re her’s then that’s why

**lovewolf:** why do you HATE BEARS????

**bitchcentral:** I don’t hate bears

 **bitchcentral:** they’re cute, fluffy and could maul a man to death. they’re everything i could want in an animal

**lovewolf:** so WHY

**bitchcentral:** well obviously they’re not mine. they’re my step-dad’s

**lovewolf:** so you’re covering up animal abuse just to protect your family. shameful

**teejay:** so you’d sell out lark?

**lovewolf:** over animal abuse?? yes.

**POWER:** fair

**bitchcentral:** that’s not what’s going on, trust me

 **bitchcentral:** anyway are we done now

**lovewolf:** I GUESS

  
  


> Dad B) — Wed. 18:44 

**Dad B):** nicks what?

> in hospital 

**Dad B):** is bear trap a new term or something or is it like

> no, literal definition 

**Dad B):** holy shiiiiit

 **Dad B):** im able to be over pretty soon anyway

> lit

**Dad B):** rad

  
  


Server: The Doodlers — General 

Wednesday 22:43 

**miku stan on main:** mr close text the dad chat to say nick’s chilling apparently 

**miku stan on main:** but honestly ‘chilling’ could mean anything from ‘doing okay’ to ‘legit on his deathbed’ when a close says it

**teejay:** mr close...

**miku stan on main:** I cannot just say the first names of DADS tj, you know this

**teejay:** how’s everyone else doing

**lovewolf:** we’re having a SLEEPOVER with finch :D!!! 

**lovewolf:** our parents collectively agree that a friend getting their leg caught in a bear trap is an outlier circumstance for the allowance of sleepover’s on technical school nights

**finch:** yo

**lovewolf:** or _I_ am, lark fell asleep and now we’re stacking animals on top of him

**finch:** it’s great

**miku stan on main:** isn’t it only like, ten?

**finch:** yeah

**teejay:** closer to 11 i guess

**lovewolf:** he sleepy!! :’)

 **lovewolf:** [picture of lark asleep on the oak-garcia living room floor. there’s a large dog lying across his chest, a goat resting their head on his arm, two ducks sat on the dog’s back, and a different bird perched on his head.]

**miku stan on main:** fjdjdjdkdkdsks

**bitchcentral:** nice

**teejay:** he’s going to be pissed when he wakes up

**finch:** it’s fine, it’s cute when he gets angry anyway

**bitchcentral:** saving this for blackmail

**teejay:** how about let’s _not_ blackmail each other

  
  


Thursday 

lovewolf > finch 9:45 

**lovewolf:** forgot to say early, sorry lark hit you when he woke up :’(

**finch:** it’s chill, we knew messing with him would have consequences 

**finch:** plus he was holding back for sure

**lovewolf:** glad you’re okay! not everyone is a seasoned lark opponent like I am

**finch:** your power is great

**lovewolf:** indeed

 **lovewolf:** also! wanted to ask you one quick thing!

**finch:** yeah?

**lovewolf:** yeah!

 **lovewolf:** I met an old friend of yours tuesday called bee? do you still have a way to contact her? I wanted to give her an update on the duckling

**finch:** i guess

 **finch:** her discord: [discord username]

 **finch:** she might not use it anymore idk

**lovewolf:** thank you! :)!!!

  
  


lovewolf > honeybiscuit 9:48 

**lovewolf:** hi bee!! this is sparrow from the pet shop, nice to see you again! let’s talk about how we’re going to get finch to talk to you again :)!

**honeybiscuit:** oh hell yeah, i’m listening 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally....... now i can get to the Prom Arc. I am,,, excited,,,  
> Don’t know all the details YET but it means I can design prom outfits at least!


	13. good good prom boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short chapter to introduce... the Prom Arc

Cold One With The Boys — General

Friday 15:36

**teejay:** nick got his phone back right

**lovewolf:** yep! his dad came over to collect it yesterday

**teejay:** I hope he’s doing okay, he hasn’t been online yet

**thisisthedollarstore:** nah im here

**miku stan on main:** wh

**miku stan on main:** how long have you been online

**thisisthedollarstore:** like since I got my phone back

**teejay:** how are you, man? we’ve been worried about you

**POWER:** I, for one, was not worried at all!

**teejay:** lark.

**POWER:** because I know that he’s a formidable opposition that has faced worse before, jesus louise-us terrence

**thisisthedollarstore:** im chill

**miku stan on main:** good chill or ‘at least i’m mostly not dead’ chill

**lovewolf:** do YOU need to talk, grant? :(

**miku stan on main:** no.

**lovewolf:** okay :’(

**thisisthedollarstore:** fine chill

**thisisthedollarstore:** we’re watching arthur christmas so

**miku stan on main:** it’s february.

**thisisthedollarstore:** uh yeah what about it?

**miku stan on main:** nm

**teejay:** speaking of february 

**lovewolf:** ugh, valentine’s day. we must lay witness to the butchering of varied complex relationships for the sake of glorifying romantic couplings that likely only exist because people think being single is sad and only exists as a temporary state between relationships and more-often-than-not these fall apart within a few months destructively enough that the couple cannot remain friends afterwards because they never even liked each other that much to begin with

**teejay:** yeah totally 

**teejay:** but I was actually talking about prom being just a few weeks away

**lovewolf:** oh right!!!!!!!

**lovewolf:** i’m!!!!! excited!!!!!!!

**miku stan on main:** are we still bringing the twins as ‘dates’ so they can get in

**teejay:** yeah, i’d like to have us all go

**POWER:** cheat the system!!!!

**lovewolf:** anarchy!!

**thisisthedollarstore:** haha sophomore babies need to cheat to get in

**POWER:** >:P

**teejay:** that does leave you with a free date, nick. are you bringing anybody?

**lovewolf:** *is looking intently*

**thisisthedollarstore:** nah

**lovewolf:** oh! oh!!!!!

**teejay:** what is it

**lovewolf:** nick you could let finch cheat the system too!

**teejay:** that is a pretty good idea

**teejay:** unless you want to save it in case you  _ do  _ find a date? 

**thisisthedollarstore:** nah id rather use it for this kind of thing ill text them

**miku stan on main:** great

  
  


thisisthedollarstore > finch 15:41

**thisisthedollarstore:** yo

**finch:** hey

**thisisthedollarstore:** so me and the boys are cheating the system this year by having tj and grant bring the twins to prom since yknow its just a js thing 

**finch:** oh sick

**thisisthedollarstore:** yeah anyway sparrow thought i should ask you since you hang with us now

**finch:** bro… is this a confession? are you confessing your undying love to me?? wow man, I never knew you felt this way

**thisisthedollarstore:** now i realise why lark insists that youre annoying

**finch:** its okay if you’re shy about your feelings, I understand 

**thisisthedollarstore:** bro shut upppp larks the one thats into you leave me be

**finch:** lark’s what?

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh i just say that to tease him sorry

**thisisthedollarstore:** you know since you guys hang out a lot but he acts like youre annoying

**thisisthedollarstore:** so its just funny to add a little ah it’s because you LIKE like him yknow

**finch:** haha yeah, I get it, man

**thisisthedollarstore:** cool

**finch:** but yeah that prom thing sounds good

**thisisthedollarstore:** sick

**finch:** Am I buying you a corsage?

**thisisthedollarstore:** im joining lark in the hating you corner officially 

**finch:** ouch

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Friday 15:43

**thisisthedollarstore:** finch is in

**teejay:** great!

**lovewolf:** wonderful :D!

**teejay:** are we going tux shopping together?

**miku stan on main:** I was just going to wear my church outfit like I did last year??

**teejay:** don’t kill me this way, grant. this isn’t how I wanted to die.

**teejay:** I will literally pay for your suit from my own pockets if it means you don’t wear that boring ass nasty disaster sack again

**miku stan on main:** fjdjdksksksk FINE

**teejay:** the rest of you: up for suit shopping?

**thisisthedollarstore:** fuck yeahh

**lovewolf:** i guess.

**POWER:** sounds good

**teejay:** nick, how bad is your foot? what’s the soonest date you can do

**thisisthedollarstore:** idk whatever day ig

**teejay:** how badly hurt is your foot dude

**thisisthedollarstore:** idk

**teejay:** you don’t have to like, describe the pain but is it like, broken or?

**thisisthedollarstore:** that shit hurteded that’s all can we not

**thisisthedollarstore:** i can walk on crutches its fine

**miku stan on main:** will you be back in school monday?

**thisisthedollarstore:** ig

**miku stan on main:** are we still doing promposals?

**teejay:** but none of us can bring a date anymore?

**miku stan on main:** no, I mean like, within the group

**miku stan on main:** it seems like a fun prom thing

**lovewolf:** as bad as promposals are as a concept, they DO sound like fun…

**POWER:** competition for cheesiest promposal?

**thisisthedollarstore:** im going to blow you losers out of the fucking park

**teejay:** you kidding? I’m easily the best at romantic stuff

**thisisthedollarstore:** youve never even been on a date bro

**teejay:** and? I still know that I’m more romantic than any of you

**miku stan on main:** wouldn’t be hard

**thisisthedollarstore:** fair

**lovewolf:** iiiiiii beg to DIFFER!!

**lovewolf:** while I may be opposed to romantic pursuits, I am CLEARLY the most affectionate of us all and can master ANY kind of love

**thisisthedollarstore:** ive watched more hallmark christmas movies than you could ever hope to dude

**thisisthedollarstore:** i KNOW cheese

**POWER:** i shall best you all in this like the forever winner that i am

**teejay:** we’re all only allowed to prompose to one person or else it will be pandemonium 

**POWER:** mmmmmmm pandemonium…….

**lovewolf:** are you SURE we cannot have a liiiiittle pandemonium?

**miku stan on main:** no.

**POWER:** stupid

**lovewolf:** :((

  
  


Saturday 

finch > lovewolf 18:56

**finch:** hey this is going to sound SO stupid 

**finch:** I know we’re doing this whole cheat to prom thing so technically we’re paired up already

**finch:** but how do you think lark would feel about me asking him to prom? 

**lovewolf:** oh! you’re doing the promposal thing? :D!

**finch:** thinking about it

**finch:** is that okay with you?

**lovewolf:** definitely!

**lovewolf:** anyway, you don’t have to prompose to your technical date! so promposing to lark is fine!

**finch:** you think so?

**finch:** you don’t think lark would find it weird?? I know he’s not really into that sort of thing, especially with  _ me  _ doing the promposing 

**lovewolf:** not at all! lark likes the promposal thing as much as the rest of us, I think!

**finch:** really? wouldn’t have guessed

**lovewolf:** well i guess he might’ve pretended not to be into it around you or something! but no! sounds good!! absolutely WIN the cheesiness contest

**finch:** haha, you’re sure he wouldn’t be put off by too much cheesiness?

**lovewolf:** the whole POINT of it is cheese! like I said, he IS as into it as the rest of us are

**finch:** wow, thanks dude

**finch:** didn’t expect this to be as chill as it is 

**lovewolf:** well, obviously I don’t mind you doing the whole promposal thing! you’re part of the gang now AND a member of the bird name bros

**lovewolf:** bros seems too gendered, i’ll workshop it

**lovewolf:** bird name buddies?

**finch:** bros is better I think

**finch:** can you not tell lark about this btw

**lovewolf:** of course!! the promposals being a secret makes them more fun!

**finch:** thank you sm man <3

**lovewolf:** np! <3!!!! looking forward to it!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah,,,,,, how lovely misunderstandings are,,,


	14. oh look,,, I accidentally added you to the server,,, oh noooo,,, my bad!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you know my chapters by now, baby: short, sweet, and easy to digest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: the d-slur is used uncensored during this chapter in reference to the way someone had it used as an insult towards them. please take care if this is triggering for you!
> 
> since these usernames are a little new let me just give a quick refresher:  
> honeybiscuit = bee  
> bitchcentral = kimberly

Server: The Doodlers — General

Sunday 16:32

> Welcome,  **honeybiscuit.** Stay awhile and listen.

**honeybiscuit:** hiiiiiii

**bitchcentral:** who

**lovewolf:** bee!

**POWER:** oh hey bee, it’s lark

**lovewolf:** bee i’m sooooo sorry, I gave you the wrong server invite!! I’ll get you the invite for the duck server in a sec! :)

**miku stan on main:** the what?

**teejay:** hey bee, i’m tj

**miku stan on main:** grant

**honeybiscuit:** nice to meet you all!!!

**lovewolf:** I wanted to make a server dedicated to the ducks! It was only going to be me, bee and lark. since bee helped us steal sparrow jr and all

**teejay:** you stole sparrow jr??

**honeybiscuit:** yep!!

**thisisthedollarstore:** tight

**teejay:** why did you steal a duck…

**POWER:** sparrow only wanted one new duck but the shop refused to sell less than two

**lovewolf:** it’s a good policy! but he wouldn’t even give me leniency when I showed him lark jr :’(

**bitchcentral:** your ducks… are called lark jr and sparrow jr…

**lovewolf:** yep!!!

**honeybiscuit:** isn’t it cute?

**bitchcentral:** that’s so fucking stupid

**miku stan on main:** wait until you hear the names of the other animals if you think that’s bad

  
  


lovewolf > finch 16:47

**finch:** hey quick question

**lovewolf:** yeah?

**finch:** why is bee in the server

**lovewolf:** oh! I sent her the wrong server invite!!

**finch:** well why is she STILL here?

**lovewolf:** well I don’t have the ability to kick her out! you can ask her to leave if you want :)

**finch:** i’m not just going to ask her to leave

**lovewolf:** well if you don’t want her here then you kinda have to :/

**finch:** I don’t  _ not  _ want her here

**finch:** but what the hell am I supposed to say, dude?

**lovewolf:** you can always ask lark to kick her out? 

  
  


finch > POWER 16:49

**finch:** want to kick bee out of the server for me?

**POWER:** haha nope

**finch:** you are so cruel and for what?

  
  


Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Sunday 16:51

**teejay:** so what day do we want to go looking for suits

**miku stan on main:** don’t mind

**lovewolf:** I was actually thinking about that

**teejay:** oh yeah? what date were you thinking?

**lovewolf:** no, the actual suit thing

**lovewolf:** I was thinking about not doing it?

**lovewolf:** wearing a suit. not doing that.

**POWER:** hell yeah, naked prom

**teejay:** gross lark

**teejay:** what do you mean, sparrow?

**lovewolf:** I was thinking about maybe wearing a dress instead???

**POWER:** ah, like a roman toga... a prime clothing choice

**teejay:** have you got a dress style in mind?

**lovewolf:** it’s not weird that I want to wear a dress, right?

**thisisthedollarstore:** wearing a dress is the least weird thing about you little dude

**POWER:** yeah!! and if anybody says ANYTHING about it then i’ll PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE

**thisisthedollarstore:** what like you could reach??

**POWER:** IM TALLER THAN YOU???

**thisisthedollarstore:** only physically 

**teejay:** sparrow, none of us think you wearing a dress to prom is weird

**miku stan on main:** yeah, you’ll look great

**lovewolf:** it’ll feel weird that we’re not buying stuff  _ together  _ though. we can do it on the same day, I guess, but it doesn’t feel the same

**miku stan on main:** finch might be wearing a dress? they like skirts after all

**lovewolf:** it WOULD be nice to be looking for the same kind of thing with someone

**teejay:** i’ll ask for you

  
  


Server: The Doodlers — General

Sunday 16:57

**finch:** hey bee

**honeybiscuit:** finch! hey!!

**finch:** so you’re here now

**honeybiscuit:** I am indeed!

**finch:** cool

**honeybiscuit:** great!

**teejay:** Sorry to interrupt this really not-awkward conversation. Are you wearing a dress to prom by any chance, Finch?

**finch:** nah. I’ve got a skirt already that’ll do, I just need a suit jacket to wear with it

**POWER:** bee do YOU need any new dresses for anything?

**honeybiscuit:** I mean, I’ve got a wedding to go to in a few months but I’m more of a suit kinda girl myself!!

**thisisthedollarstore:** damn we really said fuck dresses huh

**bitchcentral:** I’m wearing a dress to prom.

**POWER:** you are????

**bitchcentral:** why is that surprising?

**bitchcentral:** i’m a cheerleader, I wear skirts all the time. just because I could beat the fuck out of you doesn’t mean I don’t like girly shit sometimes

**finch:** why were you asking

**teejay:** doesn’t matter now, sorry

**bitchcentral:** wait nah

**bitchcentral:** it matters if it’s the other two but not if it’s me wearing a dress. the fuck

**miku stan on main:** tj wanted to see if there was someone to go dress shopping with someone else but that doesn’t really matter now so

**honeybiscuit:** oh! who’s wearing a dress?!

**lovewolf:** me!

**lovewolf:** maybe

**honeybiscuit:** :0!!! you’ll look so good!!!!!!!

**lovewolf:** :D!! thank you!

**bitchcentral:** so what, you think i can’t HANDLE dress shopping?

**POWER:** dude, you literally beat sparrow up!!

**bitchcentral:** actually I only beat you up. I was on duck sitting duty when sparrow was beaten up

**POWER:** you were still THERE

**bitchcentral:** yeah well, what can I say? i’m not a peace keeper

**POWER:** YOU SLAMMED MY HEAD INTO A POLE

**bitchcentral:** are you dead? no

**finch:** noah fence lark but if you had the opportunity to i’m 67% sure you’d slam my head into a pole 

**POWER:** you’re on HER side???

**finch:** no

**finch:** i'm just saying you’re as violent as she is and usually with less reason

**POWER:** dude.

**teejay:** they aren’t  _ wrong _

**POWER:** she’s KIMBERLY! all she DOES is fight people

**finch:** so like you

**POWER:** NO

**miku stan on main:** I mean, kinda

**miku stan on main:** you do say that that’s what your whole thing is a LOT

**POWER:** it’s DIFFERENT 

**POWER:** she was hanging out with MICHEAL

**bitchcentral:** I mean, not anymore

**POWER:** what you SUDDENLY decided to not talk to transphobic people

**bitchcentral:** tbh I thought you guys were exaggerating about that so I never looked into it 

**bitchcentral:** until he called me a dyke because I pissed him off, that is

**bitchcentral:** so yeah I looked into the transphobic stuff after that

**lovewolf:** I think she deserves forgiveness 

**POWER:** you think EVERYONE deserves forgiveness 

**lovewolf:** mayhaps

**bitchcentral:** look i don’t JUST punch people. I can pretend to be nice sometimes, i’m multifaceted 

**lovewolf:** okay! i’ll go with you then

**bitchcentral:** woah

**bitchcentral:** hey, no. I wasn’t OFFERING, I was just saying that I could if I wanted to

**lovewolf:** mmmmmm too late, I accept!!

**bitchcentral:** no, shut up. I don’t like you? we’re not doing this

**POWER:** hmmmm if sparrow wants to do this then you’d better agree or i’m reporting your step-dad’s illegal bear traps to the poliiiice~!

**bitchcentral:** fucking narc

**bitchcentral:** FINE

**bitchcentral:** you can’t just keep using that against me forever, you piece of shit

**POWER:** I can and I will!!

**bitchcentral:** when you die, I promise you that I’ll be the one holding the knife

**honeybiscuit:** what a fun server!

  
  


finch > honeybiscuit 17:13

**finch:** okay so 

**finch:** I’m sorry I fucked up your life

**honeybiscuit:** you’re an idiot

**finch:** fair

**honeybiscuit:** i’m not  _ mad  _ at you, we did stupid stuff like that together all the time. it was bound to go wrong eventually!!

**finch:** but you used to like surfing and skateboarding and all that stuff and now you just can’t do any of it

**finch:** you must be fucking miserable? 

**honeybiscuit:** literally? you are so stupid

**honeybiscuit:** if i’m ‘miserable’ it’s because you abandoned me for  _ several  _ months

**finch:** oh, for real?

**honeybiscuit:** _ obviously _ , stupid!!

**honeybiscuit:** now talk to me about your prom plans

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the teen server: oh is mercedes going to be dress shopping with sparrow? or bee maybe?  
> me, setting up a kimberly and sparrow friendship: you absolute fucking fools... >:)
> 
> don’t expect too many bee and finch dms because i REALLY don’t want too many scenes of just ocs interacting. As a general rule, I don’t like to write scenes without at least one canon character because otherwise it just feels... off? but i DID want to show the two of them will be talking a little behind the scenes
> 
> anyway both sparrow and bee are terrible liars but everyone else is bad at spotting lies so it all works out


	15. “I’m something of a poet myself...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no thoughts today, come back later

Monday

POWER > finch 9:13

**POWER:** you sick or bunking off

**finch:** the fuck is bunking off

**POWER:** skipping

**finch:** why not say skipping

**POWER:** why not call yourself bird instead of finch

**finch:** dang okay

**finch:** im sick

**POWER:** lame

**finch:** excuse me for getting a stomach bug

**POWER:** maybe if your immune system wasn’t so weak ://

**POWER:** just drink bug spray, idiot

**finch:** bet your immune system is only good bc you ate dirt as a kid 

**POWER:** NO

**finch:** I mean, I’d consider that one step down from eating nits. So it’s not like admitting it would make me see you as worse than I already do

**POWER:** wh

**POWER:** who told you about the nit thing

**finch:** I will never tell.

**finch:** I’m no rat.

**POWER:** never talk to me again bird

**finch:** mwah

**POWER:** one day,,, when you least expect it,,, I will give you a littol stab,,,,

**finch:** just a little one?

**POWER:** yeah in the eye

**finch:** funky

**finch:** I could wear an eyepatch

**POWER:** oh watch out. grant might get a crush on you

**finch:** he had a thing for what, pirates?

**POWER:** you know what?? I’m going to say yes to that

**finch:** because you think it’s funny?

**POWER:** because I think it’s funny

  
  


Monday 12:10 — The Cafeteria

The first promposal incident happened that morning. TJ had cornered Grant by the lockers while everyone was milling about before first period, dropped down to one knee with a sign in hand that read simply ‘PROM?’, and loudly recited to him an original poem by heart that lasted about five minutes straight. By the great blessings of the universe, Sparrow, Lark and Nick had all been there to witness it and they had not shut up about it since.

TJ seemed proud of himself when he sat down at the lunch table. Grant lagged behind him a little and looked as if he was waiting for a bomb to explode.

The bomb — or rather, Sparrow — smiled pleasantly at Grant and recited. “Wrap your arms around me because they feel like home”

Grant instantly turned a stark shade of red and buried his face in his hands. “Stoooooop.”

Nick nodded. “I liked the part about the legs. What was that, TJ?”

“Legs so good it’s a crime, 

‘cause holy fuck, they’re sublime.

So permit me to climb—”

Grant gave TJ’s face a gentle shove to shut him up. “I am  _ out.  _ Getting promposed to was enough already. I can’t handle being the one doing it. My anxiety can’t handle that.”

TJ laughed and moved away from Grant’s hand, giving the other boy a gentle pat on the head in return for the smack. “Understandable.”

Sparrow turned to Lark and gave his brother his own pat on the head. Lark returned the favour with a smack to Sparrow’s face, much harder than Grant had hit TJ. Sparrow gave him a rough shove back and then they were at it.

It was a basic all-out smack war until Lark managed to grab Sparrow’s shirt to keep him in place. “Nicholas.” He said. “Lend me your crutch so I may crush my brother’s  _ skull.” _

Nick, who had moved slightly further up the shared bench to avoid the confrontation, just went back to his food.

Sparrow blindly reached at the table and brought a handful of mashed potatoes straight to Lark’s face. Lark kept a tight grip on Sparrow’s shirt and put his other hand to the back of his head, ready to smash it into a food tray.

“ _ Guys.” _ TJ said with five different levels of exasperation. “Let’s do this later?”

The two of them froze — Lark still with a tight grip on Sparrow and Sparrow’s hand itching towards another scoop of mashed potatoes — and they grinned at the same time.

“Apologies, good friend Terrence.” Sparrow eased himself out of Lark’s grip and wiped the potato left on his hand across his pant leg.

Lark nodded while scraping potato from his face with his fingers. “We will continue this discourse in a more suitable arena at a later time. Like… a greenhouse! So there is a lot of glass to smash into.”

Nick looked up from his lunch and looked around the table blankly for a moment. “Where’s Finch?”

Lark decided he had gotten enough of the potato off his face as needed. “Suffering for their weakness.”

“They’re sick!” Sparrow added more helpfully.

“Damn,” Nick said, “now who are you guys supposed to annoy instead of me?”

“For that alone we will annoy you  _ extra  _ hard!” Lark exclaimed.

Sparrow clasped his hands together with a loud clap. “Indeed!”

It got a short laugh from the others at the table, but they swiftly moved onto other conversation. 

Grant looked around the group. “So. Any news aside from awful awful prom-related events?”

There was a moment of silence that Sparrow broke with a quiet “The world feels like it’s changing.”

The other three boys all stared. The sudden change of mood brought on by Sparrow’s tone of voice was like whiplash. But Lark knew what he meant. He always knew what he meant. 

TJ let out that short laugh that was mostly composed of nervousness. The kind of thing most people did when the twins talked. “What, like politically?”

Sparrow shook his head. “No… It’s like…”

“Like the forgotten realms.” Lark finished.

Because he felt it too. It was that itch at the back of his brain. The voice beckoning him towards it. It offered power that Lark was willing to take but it was always so far away. Too far. Always too far. Until recently, that is. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but it was closer now. The itch was stronger. The buzz of magic at his fingertips had started up again like a phantom pain. He couldn’t  _ use  _ magic, but it was there again. Far away, but getting stronger by the day.

TJ quickly traced his fingers across the air and mumbled some rushed words under his breath. His hand slowly dropped back down when nothing happened.

“No magic…” He said.

Sparrow shook his head again. “I don’t  _ have  _ magic, I just feel the same way I did when I  _ did  _ have magic back there.”

“So what does  _ that  _ mean?” Grant asked.

No one knew.

  
  


bitchcentral > lovewolf 16:43

**bitchcentral:** dress shopping friday after school if you’re still fucking set on this stupid shit

**lovewolf:** you want to go dress shopping on valentine’s day?

**bitchcentral:** what. YOU have valentines plans??

**lovewolf:** no 

**bitchcentral:** yeah thought not

**lovewolf:** i never have any romantic plans, it is not a sad thing. it is a rebellion against our amatonormative and heteronormative society thing

**lovewolf:** but i thought YOU might have plans

**bitchcentral:** im not dating anybody

**bitchcentral:** plus valentines day fucking sucks anyway

**bitchcentral:** like what. you can’t be bothered to care about your partner enough to do something spontaneous any other day??

**lovewolf:** plus it’s a show of how we value romantic love over any other!!

**bitchcentral:** ha yeah

**bitchcentral:** like my sister and my mom are way more important than any fucking idiot i’ve ever dated it’s so stupid

**lovewolf:** :0! what’s your sister’s name?

**bitchcentral:** starling

**lovewolf:** :o…….

**lovewolf:** (ﾟoﾟ).....

**lovewolf:** (・о・)....

**bitchcentral:** okay what the fuck

**lovewolf:** BIRD NAME BROS!!!!

**bitchcentral:** huh

**lovewolf:** like me and lark and finch!

**lovewolf:** and now starling!!!!!

**bitchcentral:** starling’s like a baby, man, they aren’t going to be part of your stupid club

**lovewolf:** tell me more bird name people. give me your secret hidden bird knowledge 

**bitchcentral:** i dont know anymore bird name people you fucking idiot. isnt knowing four bird name people enough?

**lovewolf:** it'll never be enough 

**lovewolf:** not until i have a bird name cult

**bitchcentral:** god you’re fucking weird

**lovewolf:** anyway! if we go on the saturday we can get all the cheap chocolate left over from valentine’s and ALSO miss all the gross kissing couples

**bitchcentral:** i will admit that’s smart

**bitchcentral:** but i’m doing stuff saturday and sunday so it’s friday now or friday next week

**lovewolf:** hmmmmmmm i DO hate gross kissing couples very much but i AM excited to get a dress

**bitchcentral:** meet you after school friday then

**lovewolf:** can’t wait!!

**bitchcentral:** jesus shut up

  
  


POWER > finch 20:37

**POWER:** you going to school tomorrow weak bitch?

**finch:** mom’s keeping me off tomorrow so it’ll be wednesday 

**POWER:** why is she keeping you off tomorrow :/

**finch:** she has a rule about resting for like 24 hours after vomiting so

**POWER:** EW

**finch:** you asked

**POWER:** gross!

**finch:** you have done far grosser things by your own merit than what I have done because of an imperfect immune system, nit eater

**POWER:** aaaaaa shut up!!

**finch:** anyway im feeling fine tho so i was wondering if you wanted to smash some car windows again on friday

**POWER:** hell fucking yeahhhh

**finch:** awesome, see you wednesday then ig

**POWER:** you could just not come in all week APART from friday. then you wouldn’t be so intolerable 

**finch:** damn you really hurt my feelings there oh god oh no oof ouch my emotion bones

**POWER:** you are literally the worst

**finch:** love you too!! Xx

**POWER:** stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> valentines day,,,,,,, looking forward to it! :) lots of awkwardness, we love to see it


	16. mined craft,,,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im on the top bunk of this campervan trying to post this bc it’s the only place i can get a signal and sweating balls because of it. FUCK me

Discord Groupchat — chaos free zone

Monday 21:35

**miku stan on main:** hey nick are you doing okay

**thisisthedollarstore:** lets not do this a fucking gain

**teejay:** it’s just that you seemed super off today

**teejay:** maybe you should’ve stayed home another day?

**miku stan on main:** its fine if you’re still feeling like shit, a lot happened to you

**thisisthedollarstore:** ill be able to walk again just fine once the bone heals and i spent the whole weekend just chilling with my dad so im doing fucking great actually 

**miku stan on main:** but you’re also not? 

**thisisthedollarstore:** maybe 

**teejay:** nick you can talk to us

**thisisthedollarstore:** look i dont feel BAD

**thisisthedollarstore:** i just feel weird

**thisisthedollarstore:** im just not as into talking rn as i usually am

**thisisthedollarstore:** its not a big thing its just a thing thing and not something i can do anything about rn okay

**miku stan on main:** okay

**teejay:** alright

**teejay:** do you want me to tell the person promposing to you to hold off on doing it tomorrow?

**thisisthedollarstore:** nah itll be funny

**thisisthedollarstore:** which twin is it

**teejay:** not telling

**thisisthedollarstore:** lame

**miku stan on main:** found a jungle in our minecraft world btw

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh real shit?? i want… c a t

**miku stan on main:** come online and get your cat then nerd

**thisisthedollarstore:** i am no nerd 

**thisisthedollarstore:** cats are the punkest animal

**miku stan on main:** absolutely not

**teejay:** i’ll come online too, I need to finish that redstone thing I was doing

**teejay:** also grant will you go into the nether for me? I want to make some potions but the nether fucking sucks

**miku stan on main:** i’ll go with nick to the jungle first to make sure he doesn’t die trying to get a cat but then I can get you stuff

**teejay:** thank you

**teejay:** nick I took stuff from the farm bc there wasn’t anything in the food chest btw but I replanted it

**thisisthedollarstore:** lit

**thisisthedollarstore:** I need to get started on the animal farm at some point

**miku stan on main:** tjjjjj you should make that automated roast chicken farm I sent you the youtube link for

**teejay:** im not filling our house with the sound of CHICKENS BURNING TO DEATH,  _ grant. _

**thisisthedollarstore:** sounds pretty metal

**miku stan on main:** lame

**miku stan on main:** hey? hey?? speaking of chickens??

**miku stan on main:** WHY IS THERE SO MANY CHICKENS IN THE BACKROOM????

**miku stan on main:** WHO DID THIS??

**thisisthedollarstore:** :)

**miku stan on main:** nick there’s like, MORE than fifty chickens in here???? how many eggs did you smash??????

**thisisthedollarstore:** many

**miku stan on main:** jesus

**teejay:** _ look at all those chickens _

**miku stan on main:** WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THEM??

**miku stan on main:** OH GOD WHO LEFT THE DOOR OPEN

**miku stan on main:** OH NO

**teejay:** are the chickens running wild in the farm now

**teejay:** bc that means they’re thisisthedollarstore’s problem

**miku stan on main:** MUCH worse

**miku stan on main:** im watching a massacre here

**thisisthedollarstore:** ?

**miku stan on main:** a fox got in

**miku stan on main:** he’s going batshit

**miku stan on main:** there are so many dead chickens oh my god

**thisisthedollarstore:** nooooooooooo

**miku stan on main:** we no longer have a chicken problem. 

**teejay:** i’ll get to work on the remembrance shrine

  
  


Tuesday

teejay > thisisthedollarstore 14:37

**teejay:** go to the theatre after school 

**thisisthedollarstore:** promposal?

**teejay:** promposal 

**thisisthedollarstore:** sick

  
  


Tuesday 15:10 — The Theatre

Lark smiled as Nick entered the theatre, placing his clasped hands down to rest on the crimson tablecloth. “Welcome, Nicholas. Please take a seat.”

He gestured one hand out towards the table in front of him. It was really three different tables stolen from the nearest classroom covered with a heavy tablecloth and candles, but it worked fine.

Nick gave the scene a bemused smile and made his way up to the stage, pulling out the plastic chair and slowly sitting down.

“I thought it would be Sparrow asking me.” He shrugged and looked carefully at the paper plate laid out in front of him.

“Yes yes, I discussed that with my dear brother actually,” Lark began, “And we found a solid argument for the current situation we find ourselves in.”

“Oh yeah?”

Lark nodded. “See, when you think about it… what’s better than  _ one  _ prom date?”

Nick didn’t reply, simply offering Lark a raised brow.

It was then the Sparrow stood up, revealing that Lark had been sitting on his shoulders instead of a chair the entire time. 

“Two prom dates!” They said in unison.

Nick was silent for a moment, but when two muffled laughs sounded from the wings, he lost his shit. Lark leaned forward to rest his arms on his brother’s head as Nick doubled over, his silent laughter broken into noise with a loud snort. 

Nick seemed to get himself back under control rather quickly, but his composure was shattered when TJ walked out onto the stage with a small tupperware box resting on his fingers and a towel over his arm in a pose trying to capture the air of a waiter.

TJ kept his lips tightly pressed together, but a single look at Nick had him bring the back of his free hand to his mouth, like covering his face could stop the sound of his laughter.

Lark was pretty sure they didn’t actually find it  _ that  _ funny, but when one person was trying  _ not  _ to laugh at something ‘not that funny’, the ‘not that funny’ thing could quickly become the most hilarious thing in the world.

TJ took a deep breath that sounded like his first gasp of air in fifty long years of drowning and moved the singular cupcake (their mother helped them make it, but the kitchen still ended up looking like a bomb site in the end) from the tupperware to the paper plate. Grant’s cackle erupting from the wings quickly had him bent over the table, an attempt to stifle a laugh sounding more like the death gargle of something from the forgotten realms being stabbed through the throat.

It took a few heavy breaths from TJ before he could speak. “Bon appétit.”

He ran back to the wings as quickly as his legs would take him and he and Grant broke into uncontrollable giggles muffled only slightly by the distance.

“How’d you even get permission to be here?” Nick asked, still flushed but back in control of himself.

“We didn’t!” They both replied at once.

Then Sparrow gasped. “Wait! I forgot the bouquet!”

He crouched back down to get it from underneath the table, but Lark wasn’t quite ready for the sudden shift in balance and went tumbling forward. He landed hard on the table, blowing out a couple of candles as he knocked into them. He tried pulling his hair up a little to save his hair from the remaining lit candles, but wasn’t quick enough to stop himself from getting a little singed. 

From behind him, Sparrow let out a small “Oops.”

He decided he could pull off the singed hair pretty well, even if the smell wasn’t very pleasant, and grinned wide at Nick. “So, will you be our prom date?”

Sparrow rounded the table so he could stand next to Lark and present the bouquet. It was all flowers they stole from their parent’s garden, but Lark Jr and Sparrow Jr sat nestled amongst the petals too.

The flame of a candle no one noticed rolling off the table licked the edge of the tablecloth and before they knew what was happening, the tablecloth was set ablaze.

Lark considered the event a win.

  
  


lovewolf > finch 16:43

**lovewolf:** don’t bring candles anywhere near your promposal to lark

**finch:** ?

**lovewolf:** just trust me on this

**lovewolf:** we’ve set enough fires with no one dying that it’s bound to catch up on us eventually 

**lovewolf:** don't test fate

**finch:** yeah okay

**finch:** I’ll just keep lark and fire as far away from each other as possible

**lovewolf:** you have learned well...

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter before valentine’s day 👀


	17. the last promposal

Wednesday

POWER > finch 8:45

**POWER:** pretty fucking rude of you not to say hi to me this morning smh

**finch:** i didn’t see you

**finch:** if you saw me why didn’t  _ you  _ say hi?

**POWER:** why the fuck would I say hi to you

**finch:** wow

**POWER:** how does it feel to be so utterly disregarded?

**POWER:** because that is what you did to me this morning 

**finch:** i didn’t see you??

**POWER:** you should’ve known I was there anyway

**finch:** how

**POWER:** idk, get higher passive perception 

**finch:** you play d&d?

**POWER:** no. o&o

**finch:** that looks like an emotion sparrow would send

**finch:** what’s o&o??

**POWER:** never telling

**finch:** dang and i was so desperate to know as well

**finch:** my entire day single handedly ruined because of you

**POWER:** nice

**POWER:** oh dang wait that was sarcasm

**finch:** for future reference, at least half of what I say is sarcasm 

**POWER:** terrible word usage. just say real things coward

**finch:** great idea, i’ll take it into consideration 

**POWER:** STOP DOING IT

**finch:** of course! I’ll do whatever you want me to! :)

**POWER:** GO GET SICK AGAIN ITS ALL YOURE GOOD FOR

**finch:** okay brb let me go track down someone with a head cold real quick

**POWER:** don’t delay about it

**finch:** i’ll try my best

  
  


finch > lovewolf 9:00

**finch:** what’s o&o

**lovewolf:** hm?

**finch:** something to do with passive perception and lark?

**lovewolf:** oh! that’s Oaks and Ogres!!

**finch:** what is that

**lovewolf:** you know dungeons and dragons, right?

**finch:** of course

**lovewolf:** okay well imagine that but played with a very loose grasp of the rules and mostly homebrew content made by my parents

**lovewolf:** we played it when we were smaller!

**lovewolf:** it was meant to teach us life lessons, I think, but it didn’t really work very well overall. me and lark just liked the idea of winning

**finch:** oh wait that’s sweet

**lovewolf:** did you think it wouldn’t be?

**finch:** no offence but i most definitely never think anything to do with lark is sweet at first glance

**finch:** i see him say something I don’t know and my instinct is ‘oh god’

**lovewolf:** lark would appreciate having that kind of effect

**finch:** I know

  
  


Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Wednesday 16:32

**POWER:** NICHOLAS 

**thisisthedollarstore:** yo

**POWER:** YOU DIDN’T DO YOUR PROMPOSAL TODAY

**thisisthedollarstore:** we don’t have to do it every day in a row dude we have?? weeks?

**POWER:** but im borrrrrrred

**thisisthedollarstore:** im doing it tomorrow you fucking gremlin

**thisisthedollarstore:** go burn your dad’s clothes or something

**POWER:** an interesting proposition.

**teejay:** lark…

**POWER:** I must find sparrow at once

**teejay:** LARK

  
  


Server: Cold One With The Boys — General

Wednesday 17:21

**lovewolf:** we only managed to burn five shirts before mother put the fire out :(

**teejay:** sparrow did you not look at whatever you used to light the fire and think ‘hm, maybe i should NOT do this?’

**lovewolf:** it never occurred to me, no.

**lovewolf:** fire is just so pretty 

**miku stan on main:** we lit a fire JUST yesterday, is that not enough for you?

**POWER:** you can never have ENOUGH fire

**thisisthedollarstore:** you guys should do some sort of pyrotechnics thing in the future

**teejay:** nick no-

**lovewolf:** yesssss!!!

**thisisthedollarstore:** fire breathing

**POWER:** YES!!!

**miku stan on main:** they’re going to end up in a hospital 

**thisisthedollarstore:** please the twins can bounce back from anything

**POWER:** IT’S TRUE

**teejay:** no it’s not?????

**teejay:** please do not try eating fire until at LEAST after you’ve had lessons or something

**lovewolf:** we would be good in a circus 

**POWER:** THINK ABOUT THE TRAPEZE

  
  


Thursday 8:12 — The School Parking Lot

The twins managed to catch TJ as he was getting out of his car, Lark not hesitating to take a running jump and landing on his back. TJ was sent barrelling forward with the sudden new weight, arm slapping against the roof of the car to keep himself upright.

Lark wrapped his arms and legs around TJ to keep hold of his position. “Good morning, Terrence. I have bested you.”

TJ stepped back, tethering slightly as he tried to find his balance with the addition of his new human backpack. He leaned down enough to send his concerned looking mom a wave through the window to let her know he was fine before he sighed. “Hi, Lark.”

“Me now!” Sparrow exclaimed.

TJ didn’t have much time to spin around before Sparrow was already off the ground, trusting that TJ would catch him. He did, of course, because this sort of thing wasn’t exactly an unusual occurrence and TJ had adapted to it over the past few years.

Being carried by TJ had been a Thing since the forgotten realms and the boys certainly weren’t going to stop just because they had gone from being absolutely tiny to the joint-second tallest of the group. The only real difference was the fact that they both couldn’t fit on TJ’s back anymore.

Sparrow beamed up at his friend. “Good Morning, TJ.”

TJ shifted Sparrow’s weight in his arms until he had a comfortable hold. ‘Morning, Sparrow.”

Lark gave TJ a gentle bonk on the head before he pointed towards the school. “Onwards! Posthaste!”

They successfully made their way to the courtyard before they were stopped in their tracks by Nick. He held his hand out towards TJ’s face to bring him to a halt before he whipped around the acoustic guitar he held behind him.

He was dressed with leather jacket and all today, a pair of too-big sunglasses sitting on his nose to complete the look.

He strummed once and pointed at TJ. “I love you, bitch.”

He strummed again. “I ain’t going never stop loving you, biiiitch.”

He gave the guitar one final terrible-sounding strum before he took one hand off the guitar and pointed directly at TJ. “You.”

He pointed at himself. “Me.”

He grinned and pushed his glasses further down his nose so he could look over the rims. “Prom. You dig it?”

TJ let out a light laugh. “I think it’s something I can get behind.”

“Sick.” Nick threw up the devil horns before he turned around and melded into a group of students entering the school.

Lark nodded at the promposal presentation. It was a respectable effort with a powerful execution, but he felt like he and Sparrow still came out on top. He was sure the others would agree with him despite the fire, but he would argue that they should win the competition  _ because  _ of the fire. It added some spice to the moment.

“Alright,” TJ said, “I need to talk to the art teacher before school.”

Neither twin moved.

“Babies  _ off  _ board, please.”

The two of them let out some soft mumbling protests but obliged. 

Once TJ was out of sight, Lark looked over to his brother. “Do you think if I set Finch’s hair on fire it would be funny?”

  
  


finch > POWER 10:21 

**finch:** were you seriously going to torch my hair??

**POWER:** of course not I was just messing with you

**finch:** tell me why I don’t believe that

**POWER:** trust issues?

**finch:** :/

**POWER:** damn okay maybe i did want to burn your hair just a little

**finch:** why

**POWER:** could NOT tell you honestly 

**POWER:** sometimes you just gotta burn things you know

**finch:** wish I could just hate you like you deserve

**POWER:** hate me then coward

**finch:** no, it’ll annoy you more if I don’t 

**POWER:** :0

**finch:** I know you too well now. I get to exploit your weaknesses

**POWER:** fuck

**POWER:** you’re the worst 

**finch:** ;)

**POWER:** >:(

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: Valentine’s Day Part One — Kimberly and Sparrow go shopping


	18. Valentine’s Day Part One: Kimberly And Sparrow Go Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dress shopping time babyyyy!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some brief trigger warnings. If you think any of these apply to you, skip down to the end notes for a slightly more detailed description: injury and blood mention, dissociation-like symptoms, confusion around gender identity

Sparrow

The ride to the mall was about as awkward as he expected. He tried to make conversation a few times, and while sometimes it went somewhere, it always ended up with a rather snappy comment from Kimberly that shut him right up again.

He was pretty determined to prove that Kimberly was a good person deep down. He’d rather feel safely assured that  _ most _ people were good inside rather than the opposite being true. He didn’t think  _ everyone _ could be forgiven like he used to when he was younger, but everyone at least deserved a chance to prove they could be.

“Do you like ducks?” He asked.

She gave him a funny look before bringing her eyes back to the road. “What?”

“You like bears. Do you like ducks?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I keep chickens?”

Chickens… the spiritual siblings of ducks. 

Sparrow gasped loud enough that Kimberly looked his way again. “You have chickens? What are they called?”

She very pointedly looked back at the road, face slightly flush. “I don’t… I don’t name my fucking chickens, dude. They’re dumb birds.”

Sparrow didn’t take his gaze off her for a moment. He could  _ sense _ the truth. “I won’t tell anyone.”

She sighed. “There’s… y’know, Betsy and Beak Beak and Mother Clucker and, uh… yeah. I’m not making a list of them all for you.”

This was even better than Sparrow could’ve hoped for. If he was in a cartoon, he was positive his eyes would be stars. “Beak Beak…”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Beak Beak. Shut up about it. My sister named him.”

“You sister is very firmly in the Bird Name Bros club now that I know she’s so good at naming birds too. I shall decree that Starling Woo be named my vice-president.”

Kimberly let out a ‘tch’ noise that could’ve been anything from an annoyed exhale to a short laugh. “She’s not a Woo. That was my dad’s name. She’s a Miller, for now.”

“For now?” Sparrow echoed.

“Well, I’ll convince her that Garcia’s a better name when she’s older and then she can change it.”

Sparrow’s eyebrows knitted together. “Garcia?”

“My mom’s maiden name.”

Sparrow brightened up, leaning forward against his seatbelt. “That’s my mom’s name too!”

“Woooow.” Kimberly said, injecting as much sarcasm into it as she could possibly muster. “Almost like it’s a super common surname or something. Idiot.”

Sparrow had to admit that he felt a little… deflated at how harshly she reacted to things he got any way excited about. He hugged his arms around his chest and looked away from her. “I was just  _ saying… _ ”

“Right.”

“Starling Garcia sounds pretty cool though.”

“Yeah,” she said, “It’s pretty fucking tight.”

It wasn’t a very long drive to the mall and once they got there Sparrow was out of the car and bouncing on the balls of his feet quicker than a flash. Kimberly got out of the car much more slowly and stalked ahead without checking to see if he was following behind.

Sparrow took a few fast strides to catch up with her and continued keeping pace.

“The other girls on the team said they’re going to this one store here for their dresses, so I figured it would do for us.” Kimberly shrugged.

“You talk to the other cheerleaders?” Sparrow asked before he could realise that was a rude question.

To his relief, she laughed a little. “You think I just hang out in the shadows all day?”

“I just mean… aren’t they like… too preppy for you?”

She rolled her eyes, brushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “They aren’t  _ preppy.  _ They’re all just, nice in a bitch way.”

They stepped through the large automatic doors of the shopping mall and Sparrow tried to figure out what exactly that meant to no avail. “How do you be nice in a bitch way?”

“Like… nobody  _ really  _ likes each other bar a few smaller groups but no one’s  _ openly _ mean. It’s all smiles and compliments but none of them are real and everyone’s talking behind everyone’s backs about everyone.”

Sparrow frowned. “That sounds kinda shitty.”

“I guess.”

“Why would you pretend to be nice?” He asked.

“That’s just how it is.”

Realisation slowly dawned on him and his mouth gaped. “That means  _ you  _ pretend to be nice.”

“I mean, not as badly as the others but yeah.”

“Show me.”

Kimberly stopped dead in her tracks and Sparrow looked up at her expectantly. Her face softened dramatically and she smiled too wide. 

“Wow, Sparrow! Your hair looks so good today! Did you do something different with it? I love it.” Her voice had flipped from low and cool to sickly sweet and her entire stance was far more relaxed than usual, but it all felt alien. 

The words were empty and the smile was stretched thin and her eyes said she hated everything about this. Sparrow finally understood, and nodded. “Gross!”

She slipped out of the ‘nice’ persona like pulling off a mask. Her shoulders tensed up again but her face eased into something more natural. “For real.”

The store Kimberly had been told about was equally unappealing to both of them. For him, bright lights and people and the buzzing of polite chatter was one of the worst settings he could be in. So far from trees and dirt and natural sunlight. It almost made his head spin.

Despite Kimberly having said she liked girly things, she seemed out of her element here. She looked blankly around the store, rows upon rows of clothing racks stretching out every which way. To Sparrow, it looked like an ocean. 

Sparrow took note of Kimberly’s vacant expression and decided he’d offer the life ring. “Can I try on stuff first? I’ll go grab a few things.”

She nodded. “Uh… yeah, sure. I’ll go sit by the changing rooms then.”

He didn’t spend too long actually looking through the dresses. His process mostly involved seeing a pretty colour and grabbing hold of it without checking out what the rest of the dress entailed.

There weren't many people milling about the store thankfully, so Sparrow didn’t need to wait to get into a changing room. For a moment, he was worried they might have a problem with him being there despite all the changing rooms being separated from one another. It wasn’t his fault there was only one set of rooms though.

He quickly realised it wouldn’t be a problem when the fitting room attendant looked down at him, near completely buried in a mountain of dresses, and pulled back the curtain to a changing room with a simple “Here you go, ma’am.”

He muttered a quick thank you and rushed inside, pulling the curtain across the rail and dumping all the dresses in his arm onto the chair in the corner as quickly as he could manage.

Ma’am didn’t feel correct the way being referred to as a boy did sometimes, but it didn’t feel  _ wrong  _ the way being referred to as a boy did other times either. He pushed the feelings aside to think about later, but he knew it would stay floating in his mind for the rest of the day.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of being trans or anything, he just wasn’t so sure he  _ was.  _ Nick seemed pretty certain he was a boy and Finch seemed pretty certain that they weren’t a boy  _ or _ a girl, but Sparrow could never seem to make his mind up about anything. Some days he started thinking about the idea of going by ‘they’ and every ‘he’ was like a straight shot of ear poison. Other days going by ‘they’ felt stupid because ‘he’ was clearly the right fit for him. Sometimes it was almost like nothing fit at all because ‘he’ was wrong and ‘she’ was incorrect and even something neutral like ‘they’ felt like he was making a  _ choice  _ and it wasn’t a good one _.  _ Maybe if people just stopped referring to him at all, everything would be better.

And maybe he was just the slightest bit afraid of having complicated gender thoughts after all. Not because he was afraid of the thoughts themselves but because it would be yet another thing separating himself and Lark. Another wedge between the two of them and yet another nail in the coffin of their close bond. What would happen once they grew so different that Lark couldn’t see himself in Sparrow anymore? He certainly seemed to like spending time with Finch more than he did with him lately.

He turned back to the dresses. There was a moment when he first considered wearing a dress to prom that he thought that it could be related to all these confusing feelings about gender identity, but in the end he was pretty sure they were entirely unrelated. Sparrow just liked dresses a lot more than he liked suits and there wasn’t much confusion about that. Dresses didn’t affect his gender identity at all. Finch wore skirts and  _ they  _ weren’t a girl, after all. 

He made a grab for the first dress and decided to focus all his energy on that instead of letting himself spiral into confusing feelings anymore than he already had.

The dress was a funky teal colour that had caught his eyes immediately, but now that he was looking closer, Sparrow quickly realised it required the support of someone with a lot more chest  _ stuff  _ to stay up. He sighed and hung it up on the rail attached to the wall.

The next dress was a lot better. It was a pale blue number with lots of lace at the top and a skirt that stretched to the floor. He quickly threw it on and walked out to where Kimberly was waiting.

She seemed more at ease now that she was sitting down, though her fingers were rapidly tapping against her leg. She looked at Sparrow with clear disgust. 

“That is  _ all  _ wrong.”

Sparrow‘s shoulders drooped down and he frowned. “Really?”

“You’re being  _ eaten  _ by that dress. It’s terrible.”

It continued like that for a while.

“Shitty shade.”

“Washes you out.”

“— like a fucking clown suit.”

“Ugliest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Legit tear my eyes out. I can _ not  _ look at this bodice a minute longer.”

With one final rejected dress, Sparrow slumped into the seat beside her in defeat. “That was the last one I had picked.”

She sighed and pushed herself to her feet. “Give me a sec.”

Kimberly left him alone on the seat to take a dive into the dress ocean. She disappeared around different racks, but occasionally Sparrow would catch sight of her red hair bobbing into view. She returned after a while with two dresses. The black one was thrown over her arm, and she held the other out to Sparrow.

“Try this on instead.”

He returned to his changing room and quickly replaced the rejected dress with Kimberly’s choice. Once the other dress was hung on the rack, he looked himself over in the mirror.

It was a soft pastel pink dress, with a skirt shorter than he had picked out before. His fingers fondled the soft fabric of the skirt that folded over itself to make the whole thing poof outwards. Sparrow  _ loved  _ poof. Poof was  _ fun.  _ The bodice was a snug enough fit that his flat chest didn’t mess with the fit of the fabric, and it sat comfortably on his shoulders with two skinny straps the same colour as the dress. There were two traslucent off-the-shoulders strips of fabric that connected back to bodice and instead of a traditional belt piece, there was just a small collection of dark pink flowers that amassed on his left side and spilt over to his right, some drifting all the way down to the hem.

He looked  _ good.  _ He  _ felt _ good. He didn’t know if this was the  _ perfect  _ dress, but it was the right one for him. Even if there was a dress out there that suited him better, this was the one he needed. He was sure of it.

Kimberly seemed to approve of her pick when Sparrow came out to her again, and once he changed back into his normal clothes and cleaned up the mountain of dresses he left behind, Kimberly went into the fitting rooms herself.

She came back in the black dress she had picked up while searching for Sparrow’s. It was a simple strapless black dress that cut off at her thighs and dipped somewhat-modestly into her cleavage. It didn’t hide how broad her shoulders were, but Sparrow figured if Kimberly had been trying to make herself look more traditionally feminine then she would’ve done so. She knew more about dresses than he did after all. It made her look  _ powerful. _

“You look so good!” Sparrow exclaimed.

She gave him a withering look. “Right.”

“I mean it!” He insisted. “It’s perfect.”

“Cool. Well I’m done with this shitty ass store so let me change so we can pay.”

Sparrow’s dress was partially paid for with cash from his mother (given consensually), and what cost she underestimated was paid for by his father’s card (given nonconsensually). After they left the nauseating store behind, Kimberly led them towards a small coffee shop instead of to the exit.

“I need a fucking coffee after that.” She answered Sparrow's curious look. “Fucking hate shopping, man.”

Kimberly ordered a black coffee for herself and Sparrow settled on a simple hot chocolate (“do you want marshmallows in that?” Was that even a fucking question that needed asking? _ Obviously,  _ he wanted marshmallows). Coffee wasn’t something he liked to go near. It gave you a certain kind of energetic buzz that Lark claimed made him more powerful, but just made Sparrow feel all jittery and burnt out. His tolerance to sugar had gotten far better though.

It was while they stood at the counter waiting for drinks to be made that it started. A distant ringing in his ears that was slowly growing louder and louder by the minute. A fog was growing over his mind and he couldn’t quite process anything that his eyes were seeing, it was all visual stimuli with no comprehension.

He managed to grab his drink when it was ready and follow Kimberly to a free table like his body was working without his brain. His mind was swirling too fast for him to find the thoughts lost in the mix, and the ringing was growing louder and louder and louder until it was drilling through his brain and all other sound melded together and felt like an unintelligible wall of noise closing around him and trapping him off with no air to breath.

There was one other noise louder than the rest. Low and grumbling and strong, and Sparrow reached for it with all his will. He latched all his focus on it and threw down the anchor, desperately clinging onto the voice despite the ringing and the swirling thoughts that tried to sweep him back to the sea of incomprehension.

The noise finally broke through the wall, and Sparrow realised it had been Kimberly’s voice that he was holding onto.

“— kinda freaking me out.”

It was like everything suddenly snapped back into place. The ringing disappeared and his thoughts returned to a steadier stream. He took a moment to realise where he was, trying to take note of everything. His breathing was too fast, so he focused on taking a few steady breaths. His hands were too tightly gripped on his mug, so he loosened his hold. His eyes were screwed tightly shut.

“What the fuck?” Kimberly said, voice raised higher than usual. There was a few moments of her rooting through her pockets and then there came a second “What the  _ fuck?!” _

Sparrow opened his eyes and immediately understood Kimberly’s reaction. They were still in the coffee shop, but it had  _ changed. _

It was like the colour had been sucked from everything bar Kimberly and himself, the world composed entirely of blacks and greys. The only source of light was the torch on Kimberly’s phone that felt far too bright against his eyes, but only illuminated half of what it should. The beam of light caught against the large particles of  _ something  _ slowly drifting through the air.

The air itself felt stagnant and stale, and the cold painfully nipped at his neck. The hot chocolate still in his hands only held an echo of warmth, and a look inside the mug revealed the sweet brown liquid had been replaced by an oozing black sludge that spilled out from the rim and slid down the sides just a hair away from his fingers. He brought his hands back to himself and looked for his own phone.

The table seemed to have been half conquered by a kind of fungus Sparrow had never seen before, the fungi colony clearly winning it’s battle against the metal. Sparrow turned on his own torch and got up from his seat to investigate the room further, Kimberly trailing behind him. The light from his phone landed on one of the booths, the ray catching against the whitish-grey of a full humanoid skeleton.

Sparrow stayed stock still, but Kimberly took a large step back. “I’m not on drugs.” She said to herself. “This isn’t a drug thing, I’m  _ not  _ on drugs.”

“Yeah,” Sparrow said, significantly less phased, “Don’t really think this is a drug thing.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

All things considered, Sparrow wasn’t too put off by being suddenly thrown into a weird shadowy death dimension. If anything, he was only a little anxious because Lark wasn’t here with him. It was nice to have Kimberly here though. Out of any of the people who never went to the forgotten realms to bring with him here, she would be top of his list based purely on how hard Sparrow guessed it would be to scare her. She already seemed to have taken things in stride and was sweeping around the rest of the coffee shop with her phone.

He decided to check out what the rest of the mall was like. Kimberly faded out of view very quickly in the darkness, but her torch stayed visibly bright from a distance like a singular star in the sky.

Outside the cafe was all the same. Dark and cold, with fungi and corpses in various states of decay scattered around the place. There was a singular raven perched on the shoulder of a skeleton, but it was so unmoving that Sparrow couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive.

He didn’t sense the other living person nearby until he was tackled to the ground and a blade was pressed against his neck.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” The person asked, with words that shot out like bullets and sounded like gravel. 

Without thinking much about why, Sparrow spun around the phone in his hand until the light was pointing straight up at his attacker. They hissed as the light hit their eyes and shifted their weight back enough that Sparrow was able to shove them off him completely and spin around to see their face.

It was an elf, but their skin was a kind of dark purple-grey instead of the usual human skin tones he had seen on elves previously. Tangled white hair spilled out from behind their ears down their back.  _ ‘A drow.’  _ His mind supplied. He and Lark had once flicked through some pictures of d&d races and monsters to see what matched up and what they had missed out on in their time spent in the forgotten realms. They weren’t exactly too keen on reading lore though, so ‘grey elf’ was about as much as Sparrow knew about them.

They looked pretty injured. Their nose was bent a funny way and dripping with blood. Even more blood dribbled down across their lips and over their chin. It looked like they tried to wipe it away at one point, half their lower face smeared with red, but the fresh blood continued its path anyway. There was a gash across one arm and they were holding the other in a funny way that suggested a more severe injury. They squinted at Sparrow through the light, one eye swollen up. The deep crimson red of their blood and their irises was the only hint of colour in the world thus far.

They both scrammbled to their feet. The drow’s knife was held up defensively, but they didn’t move to press it up against him again.

“What the fuck is a human  _ kid-“ _

_ Thunk. _

Sparrow’s torch followed the drow as they crumpled to the ground, then returned back up to illuminate Kimberly’s form. She held a metal chair in hand that she had obviously taken from the coffee shop on her way over.

Sparrow frowned. “You didn’t have to hit them.”

Kimberly pulled a face and placed the chair back down. “They were holding a knife at you.”

“They were probably just a little weirded out to see us in this weird spooky death place.”

“Fair.” Kimberly shrugged. “So, how exactly  _ do  _ we get out of this weird spooky death place?”

That was a pretty good question. It would probably be easier to answer if Sparrow knew how they had even gotten here in the first place. 

Sparrow unlocked his phone and went straight to his contacts. He didn’t want to waste time texting something out when he needed most of his battery life to go towards his torch, so a quick phone call it was. Calling TJ was likely the smartest option, but he ended up dialing Lark’s number instead. Some part of him just wanted to hear his brother’s voice.

Luckily, phone service seemed to work the same way here that it did in the forgotten realms and the call connected as it would normally. When Lark picked up, Sparrow was the first to speak.

“Hi, Lark!” He chirped despite the situation they were in.

“Hey, Sparrow.” He returned. “Is something wrong?”

“Well….” He took a look around the mall of corpses and shadows, and down at the unconscious drow at his feet, and back to Kimberly who gave him a questioning look. 

“Yeah.” Sparrow said at last. “You could say that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings in more detail:  
> — Injuries: not too serious injuries mentioned briefly and without too much description. Blood is mentioned. Easy to skip past: once you hit ‘they looked pretty injured’ just skip to the next paragraph.
> 
> — dissociation: Nobody dissociates but a character is briefly unable to process the world around them.
> 
> — Gender identity: gender confusion rather than gender dysphoria. A character takes their gender identity into consideration and is confused about their feelings towards it. Some negative thoughts are expressed about the idea of it. 
> 
> —————
> 
> sparrow’s gender identity is something I want to explore in the future, but, considering my plans for this fic, it’ll probably be something that’ll sit on the back burner for a while. Sparrow is rather confused at this point in time, so I don’t want his current thought process to reflect on how I think he will eventually define himself. He/him pronouns are still what he feels most comfortable with. 
> 
> next chapter: the finch promposal


	19. Valentine’s Day Part Two: Black-Rom Wack Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finch gets a POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you see a fandom word thrown in here... no you didn’t ❤️ that was put in there for nat and nat alone. it’s for their eyes only

Finch

There was something weird about Finch’s friends.

Not just Lark’s love of violence or Sparrow’s duck-centric kleptomania or the fact that they had all been kidnapped  _ twice,  _ but something fundamentally fucking weird.

One time Sparrow had been talking to them for a while about something or other. For whatever reason Finch had looked down at some point. There were flowers — tons of them — sprouting out from the ground under Sparrow’s feet as he continued rambling off some premium duck facts. The rest of the small area was entirely bare bar the grass, and Finch had been 87% sure the flowers weren’t there before. Added to the weird list.

TJ had once needed to study during lunch for a big test in his next period. As he read from a textbook with one hand, his other hand traced its fingers across the surface of the table. It was all circles and lines and such, but Finch couldn’t make out exactly what it was that he was doing. 

Nick, who noticed more than people would expect, caught their staring and leaned over. “He does it when he’s stressed out.”

Finch nodded absent mindedly and tried returning to their food, but once again their eyes were drawn to it. Over and over again, TJ traced his fingers across the table top in different patterns. It was almost hypnotising. 

And then once, just once, his fingers moved and a streak of light followed. A glowing straight white line blazing against the hard plastic of the table.

Then they blinked, and there was nothing again. Just TJ’s hand and the table.

No one else seemed to have noticed. Finch could’ve imagined it, they supposed, but they added it to their mental weird list nonetheless.

Grant never did anything quite as weird as growing flowers or creating light, but he was still a little odd. There was that one time that Nick annoyed him and ran off down the hallway to avoid facing consequences, and Grant simply took off his shoe and nailed Nick’s head with a throw from the other end of the hallway despite the crowd of people.

Or it  _ would’ve  _ nailed his head had Nick not turned around and caught the shoe in midair.

They were  _ weird. _

Lark was different though. Bee had often talked to them about people having an ‘aura’ before, but they had never really believed it until they were in the same room as Lark for the first time. When the teacher said their name to the class, Lark  _ glared,  _ and Finch felt the air leave their lungs. 

It was like the room itself was crackling with electricity, nipping at their skin with short biting zaps. It was thrilling. There was something about Lark’s rage that manifested in the world around him and pressed down Finch’s skin and stole their breath.

It wore off, that first reaction, but it got them interested. They spoke to him even if it seemed like he wanted the complete opposite and every so often Finch felt it again. It split the air and left Finch tasting metal and ash for the rest of the day. 

And there was that moment during the fight they had, when Finch had Lark pinned beneath them. When Lark looked  _ defeated  _ and Finch temporarily revelled in it. His panicky eyes had taken on a green glow to them. His irises shone brighter than they should’ve been able to and the green almost poured out like liquid, spreading throughout the sclera and drifting into the air. 

Then Finch blinked and his eyes were normal again. Brown and shaky and full of unbridled rage.

That was one for the weird list for sure.

Finch had never truly understood the concept of a kismesis before they met Lark, but now they  _ got  _ it.

Because Lark was fucking annoying.

And Finch loved it.

Lark never stopped trying to infuriate them and Finch purposefully prodded at him to get more and more of that fury. It was fun and exciting and as long as all the energy didn’t one day go towards murdering them, it was something they wanted more of.

Finch fucking hated Lark. He got annoyed over nothing and confused them with nonsense words and had literally physically attacked them without prompt. It was awesome. They were loving every moment of it.

They did try and redirect that anger a bit. Moving the attention to cars and away from their face. And they spoke like they  _ wanted  _ things to be chill between them but really they absolutely did not. They tried their best to keep things away from physical fights (not so much that they didn’t want to but fighting without regulations would end nasty. Finch didn’t want the parents to have to get involved) but there was still nothing more they loved to do than poke the bear.

There were some softer parts too. Lark could occasionally keep his mouth shut long enough to be pleasant and he hadn’t used their fear of cars against them. He’d helped them through a panic attack. Finch liked the softer moments a lot, it was a nice break from things.

Not to mention, everything becoming softer just made getting a rise out of Lark all the more satisfying. 

There was a part of them that wanted to help Lark out too. Because they had  _ been  _ there. They knew what it was like to have a constant vat of rage boiling underneath your skin, waiting to erupt at any given moment. They knew the feeling well enough to know they had never  _ truly  _ seen Lark’s anger, the same way Lark had never seen theirs. Lark didn’t know about the years of smashed plates and punched walls and insults slung at their parents. He didn’t know about the way they had completely shut down after the car accident, the fire of rage extinguishing into a smouldering charred heap of  _ nothing.  _ He didn’t know that feeling things again took time. So much time. Didn’t know about the days spent in bed and the interest in  _ nothing  _ and the ghostly smile on their mom’s face when they offered to help her cook for the first time in months. 

They barely knew where they were at now. The angry flame had returned a short while ago, dimmer than before. It felt good to have its warmth back, but they weren’t going to let it drag them back to where they were before, lest it burn everything down again. The energy that anger usually ate up was redirected into smashing cars and jabbing sharp remarks at people, and being really really good at speedrunning video games. 

Lark clearly hadn’t felt the same nothingness Finch once did, but the raw anger was there. Flickering around the edges of his hands and threatening to burn away everything he touched. It was only a matter of time before he exploded. If Finch could help him redirect his anger, even focus it on something like Finch themself, it was less likely that he would crash and flicker out the way Finch had.

It was easy enough to determine that the feelings they had for Lark was some weird sort of crush, so they decided to act accordingly by asking him to prom. 

Finch wasn’t naïve, they were well aware that Lark most likely wouldn’t be into them. Still, they had worked up the courage to  _ ask,  _ and Sparrow had  _ said _ Lark wanted to be taken to prom and Finch definitely wasn’t the  _ worst  _ choice. At the very least, he would say it was a stupid idea and Finch could turn it around somehow to make  _ him  _ look bad. It would be fine.

Saying they wanted to wreck cars again was the perfect excuse to get Lark to go somewhere. The trash yard was a place that they both enjoyed  _ and  _ a place they could let out any underlying anger issues. It was perfect.

It wasn’t  _ dark  _ by the time they got there, but mid-February meant it was dim  _ enough  _ that the fairy lights Finch strung around the place still looked pretty. The strings of lights were scattered around rusted cars and over the grass, all seeming to create a specific path back towards where the grass clearing was.

Lark gave him a questioning look, one eyebrow exaggeratedly raised. “What the fuck?”

Finch smiled in a way they knew would annoy him and continued along the path without replying. Lark followed quickly behind.

The clearing they had once fought in was now covered by a checkered picnic blanket where Finch had laid out some of the stuff they’d baked the night before with the help of their mom (the french mom, of course. filipino mom was an absolute disaster in the kitchen).

“So,” Finch said casually, like their heart wasn’t beating against their chest like a sledgehammer, “How about prom?”

Finch expected anger. They expected him to feel weirdly flattered. They expected him to accept but act like it was no big deal. They were prepared to feel both on top of the world and crushed completely under Lark’s boots. They were sure they had emotionally prepared for everything.

Instead, Lark laughed. “Oh, you win for  _ sure _ .”

They hadn’t expected that.

Their face fell, just slightly. Their confidence fell too, less slightly. “Win?”

“How did you even find out about the promposal competition? Did Sparrow tell you?”

It took a minute for things to click together. They didn’t  _ get  _ it, but they did. The boys had done their own thing and when they had talked to Sparrow about prom he’d misinterpreted what Finch was asking. 

_ Oh. _

Nothing had really changed, but it felt like it had. All the wind in their sails had quickly died down.They had fucked up. They had vibe checked the situation completely wrong. There was no hate or adoration or pity left now, just too much heat in their cheeks and a scratchy throat and a stinging to their eyes that let them know it would turn to tears if they didn’t very quickly move on.

They tried their best to laugh with him. It sounded off. “Uh, yeah! Sparrow was talking to it about me at some point. I win?”

“Well…” Lark let the word drag out. “Mine had  _ fire,  _ but I guess food is good too. It’ll go to a group vote.”

Jokes were good. Jokes could cover everything up. “You aren’t running a dictatorship?”

“Not this time.”

Finch wasn’t going to let Lark know they were bothered. That not knowing Finch’s intentions were real, not even  _ suspecting _ it for a second, hurt worse than his outright rejection ever could.

“Well, I guess we should, maybe, eat? If you want.”

Lark shrugged and plopped himself down on the blanket. “Sure. I’m always hungry.”

Lark

Finch was being weird. Finch was  _ always  _ weird, but this was ‘weird for Finch’ weird. They seemed distant from the conversation — their laugh just a little too forced, their voice just a little too stilted. It was like half their brain was disconnected from the conversation. It reminded him of Nick.

His focus wasn’t too centered on Finch though, because there was something in his head. The Voice was there again and even though it was still so distant and unintelligible, its screams racketed around Lark’s head and banged against the walls of his skull. The noise continued crashing around his brain like a bull in a china shop (or an Oak twin in an anything shop) and his head was growing heavier and heavier. There was a ringing in his ears that wouldn’t stop and continued growing in volume by each passing moment. 

Lark felt a wave of nausea come on and set down the cookie he had in hand. He looked down at his hands and found himself blinking too hard and too fast like his brain thought the rapid fluttering would work like a reset button. He couldn’t think straight. There was only noise and noise and noise and noise and then,  _ Finch _ .

Their voice cut through the sound and settled down onto him like a weighted blanket. Finch’s voice was usually the last thing he wanted to hear, but right now it was like a saving grace. It took hold of his attention like magic and eased the panic he didn’t even know he was brewing. 

Despite his newfound calm, his mind reacted the way it usually did when something like this happened. A myriad of images that would’ve been horrific to the average person passed through head, but only certain ones stuck around. A place dark and desolate, a kingdom of corpses and decomposition. 

Sparrow was among the corpses, sitting upon a pile of them like a throne. He was dead himself — pale and too still and half eaten away by time. Lark frowned. That wasn’t  _ correct.  _ He tried his best to imagine Sparrow alive and it worked for the most part. Sparrow was whole again and smiling his way, but he was missing the light behind his eyes and was still sitting far too still. Still not correct, but it was good enough. 

The voice was still screaming at him. It wanted Lark to see this world, he figured, but Lark didn’t especially care about what a voice in his head thought. Maybe one day, when he could finally speak to it, he would.

He regarded the voice rather passively and tried directing his thoughts towards it. 

_ “Dude,”  _ he thought,  _ “Shut the fuck up.” _

And it did.

His mind was steady again, settled down to its more usual buzzing of activity. He blinked open his eyes to find Finch much closer than they had been before, staring at him with something close to concern on their face.

“You good?” They asked.

Lark shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Do you want me to… I can do some grounding stuff with you if you need it?”

Lark shook his head. “I would very much like to do anything  _ but  _ that. I’m grounded fine. I’m the  _ king  _ of being grounded.”

“Stupid title.” Finch said.

“You’re a stupid title.” Lark shot back. At Finch’s bemused grin, he glared. “I mean-  _ shut up.” _

They went back to eating and talking about lesser things for a few minutes before Lark’s phone rang. He wouldn’t be opposed to declining calls from anybody, but caller ID showed it was his brother. Hopefully Kimberly wasn’t killing him.

“It’s Sparrow. One sec.” He said as he answered the call and held the phone up to his ear.

“Hi, Lark!” Sparrow said first. He didn’t seem  _ too _ upset at any rate.

“Hey, Sparrow.” He replied. “Is something wrong?”

“Well…. Yeah.” He paused. “You could say that.”

“What’s going on?”

There was another pause. “There’s some kind of forgotten realms kinda stuff going on.”

Lark felt Finch’s gaze on him, but their eyes averted when Lark looked back. He couldn’t speak too openly here. “Oh yeah, I’m just with Finch right now. Is something up?”

“Oh,  _ right _ , well… we were just getting something in the café and now we’re in a sort of spooky parallel dimension? It’s pretty cool, lots of dead bodies. But I don’t know how to get us back? And there’s nothing to eat here but icky goo stuff and I don’t really want to try it.”

“Oh,” Lark said, feigning neutrality. “Kimberly’s still with you?”

“Yeah, she’s cool but-“

A more distant voice crackled through the speakers. “Hey, bird brain, that shadow fucking  _ moved.  _ Can you hurry it up?”

“Yeah, okay!” Sparrow called back before returning his attention to Lark. “I’m going to turn my text notifications off to save battery but call me if you need information. Just go to the mall or something, I don’t know? TJ can probably figure it out.”

“Okay.” Lark said, nodding even though Sparrow couldn’t see. “Okay. See you soon.”

He hung up the call and instantly got to his feet. Finch’s eyes followed him on his way up. They frowned slightly. “Problem?”

“Sparrow.” Lark answered. “It’s fine, but I need to get to him. Bring in some of that food stuff to me on Monday or something for sure though.”

“You want any help?”

“No.” Lark answered too quickly. He didn’t try to fix it. “See you Monday.”

“Yeah, cool. See you then.”

Lark turned away from Finch and hurriedly moved back along the forest path. Right, cool. Finch was staying put. Time to call in the boys and find out how the fuck to travel across parallel universes.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finch on the outside: haha funny quip, let’s redirect that anger into something more healthy, how are you??  
> finch on the inside: PLEASE try hit me with a baseball you absolute piece of shit i’d like to see you fucking try


	20. cleorrr you can’t go to the overworld! the sunlight, emmma!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> that was resolved pretty quickly tbh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me @ me: well that one finch POV was fun but that was a once off! no more non-canon POVS  
> me, making a kimberly centric chapter: oh fuck- you were serious bro?
> 
> cw for signs and talk of domestic abuse

Friday 17:43 — The Mall 

Lark 

Lark called TJ once he was far enough from the junkyard that he was sure Finch wouldn’t hear. He passed on the quick rundown of what was happening and TJ said he’d let the other two know. Once he got back to the school, it was only a twenty minute run to the mall. 

They all got there within fifteen minutes of each other, meeting up at a fountain in the mall’s centre. TJ decided they needed to go somewhere private so he could make an attempt at spell casting. 

They eventually found a bookstore — empty bar the sleeping cashier — and shuffled off to the back.

“I only have what I had on me before I was snatched up by the Grand Daddies.” TJ explained in a hushed voice as he knelt down, emptying the contents of his bag out onto the floor. “But I was trying to cast plane shift then so I still have all the tuning forks on me.”

“Can you cast it then?” Grant asked, sitting down beside him. 

Nick stayed standing, arms crossed too tight around his chest. Lark was standing too, everything twitching with an anxious energy he had no means to get rid of. Nick looked over at him and frowned deeper, watching him bouncing on his toes for a moment before he reached over and placed his hand on Lark’s arm.

Lark didn’t pull away from Nick’s touch. He knew what Nick was trying to do. 

_‘We’re going to get him back.’_ Said the hand on his arm.

_‘Thank you.’_ Said him not pulling away. 

He and Nick never really had to speak to talk, even if Lark usually wasn’t the best at picking up on other people’s signals. 

TJ frowned. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Tell us what we need to do to help.” Grant said. “Take your time.”

TJ took a deep breath and another look at the small collection of books and spell components before him. “Lark.” He looked up. Lark looked back. “I need you to find out as much about where Sparrow is as you can. And if there’s any way to get him closer to where we are in respect to how his plane is laid out, try tell him to do that? I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Lark took out his phone and dialed up his brother and TJ flicked through his books to find the right spell. Nick's hand stayed on his arm.

“Lark?” Came Sparrow’s phone from the phone as he picked up.

“Sparrow.” Lark answered, and he didn’t know the relief he had at hearing from his brother again until it shone through his voice. “Do you know what plane you’re in? Or can you tell us anything about it mayhaps?”

“Mmmmmmm, it’s very dark! And there’s lots of dead bodies and fungi everywhere. Oh! And someone told us it was connected to the Underdark, does that help?”

“One moment, brother.” He took the phone from his ear and relayed the information to the others. 

TJ absentmindedly tossed a book at Grant. “Planar theory. Try match it.”

Lark returned the phone to his ear. “Sparrow, dearest brother, do you know if, perchance, there’s any way to tell how far you travel there relates to how far you travel here?”

“Well, everything looks the exact same as it did back home for the most part over here! There might be some weird physics battling our reasoning skills though, I do _not_ know for sure.”

Lark figured it was worth battling potentially weird physics for and relayed their current location to Sparrow before he hung up. Neither of them offered any sort of long goodbye, there was no point. Both of them knew the universe wouldn’t allow the two of them to be separated for very long, it was only a matter of waiting.

And wait they did. Grant found a plane that seemed to fit Sparrow’s description: The Shadowfell, and TJ just so happened to have a fork attuned to that exact plane. Everything _seemed_ to be in working order, but as TJ went to cast the spell, nothing happened.

He tried it again and again and again to absolutely no effect. Almost a full fifteen minutes passed before TJ threw the metal fork to the ground with a low, “ _fuck.”_

Grant frowned. “Maybe if you try-“

“There’s _no_ magic here, Grant.” TJ insisted, bristling a little, before he offered the boy an apologetic smile and noticeably calmed his tone. “Or at least, not for me. I can’t do it.”

“Maybe we should call the dads?” Grant suggested. “Mr Oak could-“

“What could _they_ do that TJ couldn’t?” Nick shot back. 

None of them responded, because they all knew that he was right. 

TJ inhaled deeply and looked up at Lark. “How are you doing?”

Lark shrugged. He was… fine, in all honesty. He wanted his brother by his side, of course, but he knew it was fate that they would be together again. Setbacks were just setbacks. 

Lark didn’t say anything, just crouched down and took the tuning fork in hand without really knowing why. TJ didn’t stop him. 

He stared down at the black metal in his hands and rolled it between his fingers. He wasn’t scared for his brother, but he _did_ miss him. He wanted him back. He needed him back.

The metal sparked.

  
  


????? ??:?? — The Shadowfell 

Sparrow 

The shadows hadn’t made a proper appearance yet, thankfully. Sparrow caught the occasional flicker of movement in the corner of his eyes, but they didn’t seem to be any real danger as of then.

Sparrow had looked through the items of some of the corpses and found a length of rope a few minutes back. Kimberly was currently using it to tie up the drow she knocked out while Sparrow decided to test out some magic.

It took a little bit of trial and error to relearn how to manipulate the energy already in his body so that it would flow outwards in the form of magic. Slowly but surely though, a small flame appeared in the palm of his hand. It was dimmer than usual, and barely gave out any heat, but that might’ve been because of the place they were in rather than his own inability.

“So, what?” Kimberly said, tightening a knot. “You can just do magic now?”

“I got it from my father.” Sparrow replies.

“Of course you did.”

Sparrow looked up at her, the flame steady in his hand. “Want to try?” 

“Nothing better to do.”

She switched off her phone’s torch before she came over to Sparrow and sat herself in front of him. The fire’s light was weak, but it was enough to illuminate her face. In all dim light and shadows, Kimberly’s neutral expression was sufficiently scary.

“Do I gotta say magic words or something?” She asked.

Sparrow wasn’t actually sure if magic words were a necessity for everyone. “It only really works when I say ‘whoosh!’ and sort of do this.” He made a gesture with his free hand and Kimberly didn’t seem very impressed. “I don’t know how you’re _supposed_ to do it though, I just know how _I_ do it.”

She let out a short huff. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Magic _is_ ridiculous.”

“I guess.”

He smiled. “Try.”

Kimberly looked around like she expected someone to be watching the two of them before letting out a heavy sigh and copying the gesture Sparrow had demonstrated. 

“Whoosh.” She deadpanned.

Nothing happened. Not even the briefest of flickers.

Sparrow hummed. “Did you _feel_ it? Like bugs all under your skin? Even when it doesn’t work, I can feel the bugs.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Ew. No.”

Sparrow hummed again. “TJ learned his magic from books and stuff, maybe you could do the same?”

“Magic books.” She scoffed. “I think I’d rather just hit something.”

Sparrow nodded and got up from the ground to look over at the bodies again. Flame still in hand, he kicked some of them over with the toe of his boot until he found a weapon that suited Kimberly. It was a broadsword still in its sheath. A quick peek at the blade underneath revealed the metal was still in pretty good condition. He quickly made his way back to her.

“This seems more you.” Sparrow said, passing her the sword.

Kimberly lit up in a way Sparrow hadn’t seen before and wordlessly took the sheathed blade from his hands. She pulled out the sword just enough to get a glance at the dull metal of the weapon.

She smiled. “Wicked.”

And then, quicker than Sparrow could really process, the sword clattered to the ground as Kimberly crashed to her knees. Her face buried itself in her hands and her head rested just inches from the ground.

“Kimberly?” He asked, but then he felt it. Not the pain Kimberly had, but a tell-tale sign of magic — like claws digging into his brain that didn’t _hurt_ per se, but sent shivers down his spine.

He looked down at the sword at first. _Currrsed?_ Mayhaps, mayhaps. What could he do to test it — touch it again?

Laughter broke out from a voice to his side — short and low and smarmy. Sparrow followed it to find himself caught in the gaze of the drow. They seemed pretty groggy, and were still well tied to the chair, but had woken up. They grinned at Sparrow with red-stained teeth before saying something in a language he didn’t understand. It sounded like almost-English the way French and German could at times, like someone had gotten the language and locked it away until it became harsh and guttural.

Sparrow looked to them unaffected by the display. “Oh, what spell was that?”

They didn’t respond. Maybe they didn’t speak the same language as him? Guess it _was_ presumptive of him to assume _everyone_ could speak the same language, even with stupid fantasy rules. There was a small part of his brain that told him in his father’s voice that it wasn’t very woke of him to hold those biases. He very quickly ignored it the way he did his real father most of the time.

Kimberly was sitting up now, one hand still idly resting at her temple. Sparrow offered his hand and she was dazed enough to take it and let him pull her to her feet.

“The fuck was that?”

“Them, probably.” Sparrow pointed to the drow.

“I’m going to fuck their shit up.” Kimberly announced like she was sharing a cool piece of trivia, pushing some loose hair back behind her ears.

“Ooh, like torture!” Sparrow put forth. Although, that wasn’t exactly the way of the love wolf. “Or perhaps… a stern talking to?”

“I’ll give them a stern talking to alright.” Kimberly picked up the broadsword before unsheathing it and marching over to the elf. Sparrow followed her with the light source as she held the blade to the drow’s throat. “Gonna cut you to pieces for that.”

“Just returning the favour.” The drow smiled.

“Oh, you _can_ speak english! You didn’t talk to me before.” Sparrow said.

Now that they were speaking english, their voice sounded almost dramatically different. Still deep and gravely, but with an accent Sparrow could _almost_ place.

The drow gave him a withering glance. “English?” They echoed blankly.

“Oh, right. Uh,” Sparrow searched for the bullshit fantasy word. “Common!”

The drow tittered. “Reckon _I’m_ the one speaking common, mate. It’s overcommon that you’re talking.”

“Overcommon?”

“What you speak up there. You being human and all. Overworld, overcommon. Common is what’s spoken down under.”

“Oh my God.” Kimberly said suddenly. “They sound Australian.”

Sparrow couldn’t help but laugh a little, because they really _did_ and now that they recognised the accent as some normal-ass Earth one instead of a shitty fantasy voice, the drow’s words seemed almost funny? It was something about the contrast of the completely otherworldly setting and person and the completely _normal_ voice that just took him the _fuck_ out.

“I do not.” The drow defended weakly, but they looked more confused than anything.

“You _dooooo_!” Sparrow shot back. “You sound exactly like one!”

They blinked. “Is an Australian some manner of beast?”

Kimberly chuckled. “That’s so ridiculous.” She looked to Sparrow. “This is ridiculous.”

Sparrow grinned. “There’s a town in the normal fantasy world called Ballsdeep.”

Kimberly laughed aloud. “Holy _shit.”_

“You two need to stop fucking around and let me go right now.” The drow spoke up. “Or I’ll mind slam you hard enough to send your head back to the fucking overworld.”

“Is that what the spell’s called?” Sparrow asked. “That would be cool to learn. Just ‘ker-blam-o! Mind slam! Fall to your knees’!”

Kimberly nodded. “Definitely cooler than the fire thing.”

“It’s not a _spell.”_ The drow insisted. “It’s a talent.”

Sparrow laughed a little again and Kimberly raised an eyebrow. _“Yeesh.”_

They sighed loudly. “ _Assholes…_ It’s like- like a fucking cantrip? You know what a cantrip is, at least?”

“Oh!” Sparrow exclaimed. “You should’ve just said that.”

The drow did _not_ respond. 

“How do we get out of here?” Kimberly asked.

“You don’t know how to cast plane shift or something?” The elf asked with a raised brow. “How did you even get here?”

“Mm, actual answer please!” Sparrow pressed.

The drow looked ready to murder him briefly, then grinned with their blood-stained teeth once more and looked Kimberly dead in the eyes. 

“Find the darkness that even light cannot touch and walk into it until darkvision itself cannot save you from being unable to see your own hands before your face. Walk for a time that has no measure and you will find yourself in the Underdark. Things are a piece of piss once you get there as long as you can avoid the spiders and the cultists and the slave owners and the-”

Kimberly slapped them.

“Kimberly!” Sparrow interjected. “I don’t think they were lying!”

“They were trying to freak us out though? Asshole.” She leaned in close to the drow, a hair away from their face. “Listen here, you australian piece of shit, when I-”

The drow spat in her face. Sparrow gasped. Kimberly slowly backed away, and he had to cover his mouth not to laugh as she casually wiped the blood the elf had spit up from her face with the back of her hand.

When Sparrow was sure he wouldn’t laugh at her, he allowed himself to speak. “Are you…”

Kimberly took the butt of her sword and slammed it against the Drow’s skull hard enough to render them unconscious once again. “Yeah, I’m good.”

They kept a closer eye on the drow as they waited this time. Lark called him at some point and after getting some information from them, ushered him towards a bookstore. 

It was a little weird to think, but Sparrow actually felt less anxious about being separated from Lark than he had in weeks. Lark was _actively_ trying to get him back and thinking about him. Sparrow almost felt… good? Maybe he should get trapped in creepy crawly death dimensions more often.

Sparrow felt _it,_ suddenly, a little while after he entered the store — the bugs under his skin that was _magic._ He didn’t know what he was doing, but his body was ahead of his brain and dragging him towards the back of the store. He knew what he had to do, the way his magic _always_ told him what to do.

He reached his hand up and _out,_ and the world crackled around his fingers. Green light spat out and violently bounced across the room around them. 

Sparrow reached and reached and reached until he found another hand. He knew, without any reason to, that it was Lark’s. He grabbed hold of him, and Lark _pulled._

Sparrow was already halfway into the growing collection of light when he dug in his heels and reached out for Kimberly. She didn’t hesitate, just grabbed hold of his hand tight just as Sparrow was tugged again too hard to resist.

Sparrow caught sight of the other side before he fully passed through. Lark and then Nick and TJ and Grant, all holding onto each other like a chain and pulling back as hard as they could. 

The two of them fell through and landed on top of a pile of boys they knocked over. As soon as Sparrow saw Lark, he grabbed a hold of him and brought him into a tight hug. They both laughed despite nothing being very funny.

He caught sight of TJ over Lark’s shoulder. He was smiling, but shook his head anyway. “How did you two… what did you do?”

Sparrow wasn’t very sure.

Somehow, Kimberly seemed to have avoided the impromptu cuddle pile altogether and was already on her feet. 

“Kimberly?” Sparrow asked as they caught each other’s eyes.

She didn’t say anything back, just gave a short glare before she turned and left.

Sparrow frowned.

  
  


Friday 18:31 — The Miller Residence 

Kimberly 

She was glad to see Richard’s car missing when she pulled up at the house. She was _far_ from the mood she needed to be in to deal with his bullshit. 

She left the sword in the backseat of her jeep, hidden beneath a blanket she had there to hide one particular blood stain she hadn’t been able to wash out. Stupid assholes getting their legs trapped in fucking bear traps and hotwiring _her_ fucking car. Jesus.

Even when unlocked, the front door to her house required several kicks to be forced open. The tension she didn’t know she had in her shoulders melted away when she was hit by the smell of her mom’s cooking. She smiled, the familiar mix of scents like a warm fire after a cold day. Kimberly closed the door and kicked off her shoes before making her way to the kitchen. 

Her mother was humming something as she went about cleaning the counters, and Kimberly stood in the doorframe to wait for the attention to come her way. 

As soon as her mom’s eyes landed on her, Kimberly only had about five seconds of warning before she was wrapped in a hug. She only just managed to drop her bag before her mom’s arms were around her.

Kimberly let out a short noise of protest. “ _Mamá_.”

She relented, backing away from Kimberly a little and booping her nose. “How was your day?”

“Fine.” Kimberly shrugged. “Got a dress picked out, so.”

She finally spotted the faint red mark on her mother’s cheek. Her light smile twisted into a frown and her fingers lightly traced over the area.

Her mother hissed and pulled away from her touch. She gave her daughter a look that was almost _apologetic,_ and Kimberly felt sick to her stomach for it. “Kim…”

“Did you put ice on this?” 

Her mom gave a sad smile. “It doesn’t need ice.”

“Fine.” Kimberly said coolly. “Where’s Star?”

“You _know_ he wouldn’t touch her, _mija.”_

Kimberly scoffed. “You said the same thing about yourself after the last time, you know.” She picked up the shopping bag she’d dropped and took a step back. “She up in her room?”

“Last time I checked.”

“Right. I’m going to go say hi to her then.” She turned to leave but her mom’s hand caught her wrist.

“The empanadas will only be another five minutes. Haven’t had something like that in a while, you know?”

Kimberly shrugged her wrist out of her grip. “Not hungry.”

She felt bad about getting angry. Home was meant to be the place where she wasn’t _allowed_ to be angry, but she couldn’t help it. Despite how much she knew it was _wrong_ to feel that way, Kimberly couldn’t help but feel frustrated bout her mother’s inability to take action. They had money saved up. According to her mom, they had family she hadn’t spoken to since her second marriage that were probably nice enough that they would help them out if they needed it. They had all the resources they needed to escape _him,_ but her mom never could.

Kimberly knew, logically, it wasn’t her mom’s fault. That it wasn’t _right_ to blame her for anything. But despite whatever guilt she had over it, the feelings remained deep in her chest of thinking her mother not strong enough to do the right thing. How far would she let it go? Until Starling got hurt? Or even then would she convince herself it was yet another once off occasion?

It wasn’t her mom’s fault, but Kimberly still resented her at times. She tried her very best to keep that festering anger from infecting the bond she had with her, but sometimes it was just too much. Today had _already_ been too much.

When she got to her sister’s bedroom she was attacked before she could even see it coming. Her sister latched onto her leg, sitting herself down on Kimberly’s foot. “You’re the best sister ever.”

Kimberly rolled her eyes and raised her leg into the air a little. Starling giggled as she was lifted up with it. “Yeah, yeah, you _gremlin_. What do you want?”

Starling unwrapped one of her arms so she could hold up a doll. “Tiffany.”

Kimberly took the doll with a sigh and let her shopping bag drop to the floor. She lowered her foot and lightly shoved her sister off it before making her way over to the dollhouse to the side of the room and resigning herself to the fact that ‘tiffany and laura have a tea party and then fight a t-rex and a volcano’ was going to be at _least_ the next hour of her life.

  
  


Discord Groupchat — misandrists united 

Friday 19:51 

**honeybiscuit:** and the guy was like ‘oh if you’re in a wheelchair then just do genderbent tavros’?

**finch:** yo what

**honeybiscuit:** yeah??

 **honeybiscuit:** like 1) I don’t need to ‘genderbend’ cosplay, sir and 2) I don’t need to cosplay the character in a wheelchair???

**finch:** gross

**honeybiscuit:** yeah anyway so I poured my coffee all over his shitty fantomex cosplay

 **honeybiscuit:** oh kimberly you’re online!! <3!

**bitchcentral:** are you two talking about goddamn homestuck a fucking gain??

**honeybiscuit:** look.

 **honeybiscuit:** we have many months of talking to catch up on

 **honeybiscuit:** because _some_ people think it’s cool to abandon their friends 

**finch:** i-

**bitchcentral:** get their ass

 **bitchcentral:** imo you should stop talking to each other again for at least half a year

 **bitchcentral:** y’all irritating 

**finch:** I already feel guilty okay!!

**honeybiscuit:** well I’m going to _keep_ making you feel guilty

 **honeybiscuit:** only for goofs though ily

**finch:** ily2

 **finch:** we could talk about something that isn’t homestuck tho

**honeybiscuit:** oh mx ‘47k reader<3<karkat, reader<>latula, reader<3kanaya, college au, part one of a trilogy, ongoing’ is going to talk about something that isn’t homestuck??

**finch:** i’m choosing not to speak.

**honeybiscuit:** you cannot deny your sins

**finch:** that was two years ago _please_

**bitchcentral:** i’m so glad i know what zero of that means

**honeybiscuit:** you knoooowwww, i could send you a link to this old youtube video of mine where I sum up the whole story in just under three hours! :D!

**bitchcentral:** would rather drink piss and die, I think

**honeybiscuit:** you don’t want to listen to a pretty girl ramble on about her passion topic for hours? the fuck kind of lesbian ARE you?

**bitchcentral:** wow

**finch:** she’s got you there

**bitchcentral:** i am asking once again why we have this chat when all you do is talk about things i do not care about

**honeybiscuit:** bc boys are dumb!!

**finch:** boys are super dumb

**honeybiscuit:** we need to ally ourselves so we can fight off their stupidity 

**honeybiscuit:** speaking of, how was dress shopping with sparrow 👀

**bitchcentral:** nothing exciting 

**bitchcentral:** got a dress and shit

**honeybiscuit:** oh send pics!!!

**bitchcentral:** ughh if i want to take a picture i’ll have to get off the roof and everything 

**bitchcentral:** maybe another time

**honeybiscuit:** why are you on your roof??

**bitchcentral:** chilling

**finch:** the signal at her house is shitty

**bitchcentral:** yeah I can only get bars when im real high up

**honeybiscuit:** wack!!

**bitchcentral:** wack.

**finch:** did you guys know that the boys were doing fake promposals as part of a competition

**honeybiscuit:** oh no

 **honeybiscuit:** finch

 **honeybiscuit:** the lark thing?

**finch:** yeah maybe so

**honeybiscuit:** oh nooooo

 **honeybiscuit:** im sorry :’((

**bitchcentral:** the lark thing??

**honeybiscuit:** finch wanted to ask lark to prom

 **honeybiscuit:** no telling any of the boys though

 **honeybiscuit:** antonioak...

**finch:** he thought I knew about the competition and I definitely played it off that way whoops

**honeybiscuit:** you should’ve told him!!

**finch:** that would’ve been _awkward_

 **finch:** he had to leave for something to do with his brother anyway

**honeybiscuit:** oh?

**bitchcentral:** oh yeah something came up

 **bitchcentral:** i wasn’t exactly close enough with the dude to help him with it, don’t want to give out more personal info than that

**honeybiscuit:** gotcha

 **honeybiscuit:** are YOU okay?

**bitchcentral:** oh, yeah.

 **bitchcentral:** like i said, i’m chilling

**finch:** cool

**honeybiscuit:** cool

**bitchcentral:** cool.

  
  


honeybiscuit > lovewolf 

**honeybiscuit:** sparrow! kimberly said something came up today while you were shopping and I won’t press for details but I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay?

**lovewolf:** oh yeah!! totally O-A-K, don’t worry!

 **lovewolf:** mmmmmm o-a-k sounds less good over text than it does when you speak it, cut that

**honeybiscuit:** oh!! glad you’re doing okay! send me pictures of your dress later i’m sure it’s super cute!!

**lovewolf:** I will!!

**honeybiscuit:** <3!!!!

**lovewolf:** <3!!!!!!

  
  


Monday 10:12 — Around the back of the school 

Kimberly 

Kimberly skipped english Monday morning. She could speak english anyway, why did they need a wholeass class for it? Stupid. 

She situated herself around the back of the school instead, leaning against a heavily spray-painted wall with a lit cigarette between her fingers.

It seemed she wasn’t alone in her plans. At some point Stephanie Mitchellin rounded the corner and smiled as she caught sight of her.

Stephanie was a grade-A bitch. Pretty though. Kimberly had dated her for a few weeks a long while ago. Even after Kimberly told her to get fucked, Stephanie still came to her for weed and general gossip. She was good for getting dirt on Bethany’s crew of cunts.

“Kimberly!” Stephanie said. “I saw you in the mall on Friday.”

“Oh yeah?” Kimberly said and offered an empty smile. “Why didn’t you come over?”

“Saw you were with that weird Oak kid.” She shrugged. “Didn’t want to interrupt whatever that was.”

Kimberly took a long draw on her cigarette. Stephanie didn’t seem bothered by the smoke. “We were just hanging out. Dress shopping, y’know?”

She tittered a little. “Don’t know how you got roped into _that_ one.”

Kimberly shrugged. “Owed a favour, you know how it is.”

Stephanie cooed sympathetically. “Poor thing, those twins are so fucking _weird._ Cute work getting him to get a dress though, should be good for a laugh.”

Kimberly broke her nose.

She didn’t know _why_ she did it, only that she _did_ and it happened quicker than she could fully process. 

She was sure she didn’t feel particularly attached to Sparrow, but it was just that it wasn’t _funny_ that he wanted to wear a dress and Kimberly wasn’t afraid to show a bitch her place. That was it. That was all it was.

She didn’t get in trouble, of course. Stephanie may have been a top tier bitch, but she respected the system and no one in their right mind fucked with Kimberly Woo. She had dirt on everybody and any rumour she started would catch on like wildfire. Plus Kimberly was 78% sure the girl still had a thing for her despite them breaking up over two years ago. 

She wasn’t exactly sure why she hadn’t done something to get back at the doodler boy-squad yet when she very easily _could_ without them knowing. She wasn’t sure she cared enough to figure it out.

  
  


Sparrow 

Sparrow had tried to grab Kimberly’s attention several times through the week. In school she was impossible to find and she never once even opened his texts. He wasn’t desperate about hearing from her, and wouldn’t have minded at all if it was just that she decided she had repaid what she owed or something. It was just that Sparrow was a little bit worried that the reason she was avoiding him was because the trip to the spooky scary death realm had shaken her up more than he’d thought. 

He sent three texts in total. Saturday’s was _‘just wanted to make sure you’re okay after all that!’._ Monday’s was _‘not that I’d assume you’re not okay or something but it’s okay if you aren’t’._

He sent the last one Thursday morning. _‘Me and the boys are going back to the mall tomorrow to investigate magic stuff! Do you want to come??’_

Thursday 

bitchcentral > lovewolf 22:32 

**bitchcentral:** sure

**lovewolf:** yayyyy!

**bitchcentral:** so you’ve done all that fantasy shit before right?

**lovewolf:** oh yeah! like, five years ago? we got kidnapped by our grandparents, it was weird

 **lovewolf:** fun though! me and lark were part of a cult that tried to summon a eldritch beast so that we could FIGHT it

 **lovewolf:** mayhaps a mistake, but a mistake that shaped us

**bitchcentral:** right

**lovewolf:** sorry hmmm fantasy stuff must be a lot to take in??

**bitchcentral:** I mean, I wouldn’t have believed you if I didn’t literally get trapped in that stupid ass death place last week

 **bitchcentral:** it’s not _a lot,_ it’s just weird

 **bitchcentral:** so do you think that person we tied up is like, dead?

**lovewolf:** oh.

 **lovewolf:** I forgot about them a little

**bitchcentral:** damn

**lovewolf:** sorry sorry, people just die in the fantasy realm all the time, I don’t really think about the consequences of it all afterwards

 **lovewolf:** they had magic?? maybe they’d be able to escape after they rested for a bit

**bitchcentral:** let’s go with that

**lovewolf:** yeah.

**bitchcentral:** yeahh.

**lovewolf:** see you tomorrow then?

**bitchcentral:** hella

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised myself I would have a chat without canon character again,,, I lied to myself
> 
> finch: as the main oc I will discover all the fr stuff first  
> kimberly: oh HONEY-


	21. ayo this casper doesn’t look so friendly dude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so we’re all just going to pretend I didn’t not update this for three weeks. agreed? agreed. I just, simply did NOT want to write this chapter for whatever reason and it SHOWS
> 
> also concerning the newest episode:  
> henry: And you love everyone in this world, you care for everyone in this world, you never close your heart, to anybody.  
> lark, immediately after meeting someone else with a bird name: HEY FUCKASS-

Nick 

Friday 15:16 — front steps of the school 

Things were much better with his dad after they got back from the forgotten realms. He was around more often and actually made _attempts_ to be an actual dad from time to time. Nick still wanted to impress him, but it wasn’t as much of a compulsion as it had been before. It didn’t consume his thoughts when his dad was around like it used to, he just… liked getting compliments from time to time. Normal kid stuff. 

It was good. _They_ were good. Especially after his dad swapped touring for giving music lessons. It was a much lamer job, and Nick _liked_ that. He liked that his dad wasn’t The Coolest sometimes. Many times. Most times. His dad _really_ wasn’t actually that cool at all, turned out. 

Although they were in a better place together, there were still times that his dad could let him down. Like now. He was meant to pick him up from the school fifteen minutes ago so he could go home and grab some stuff before heading to the mall. 

It was fine. It was cool. He could forgo the quarterstaff and just walk there instead. He didn’t need to use crutches anymore but it was a fuckton of effort to walk and he would’ve appreciated they extra few moments of not doing it that a lift would’ve provided.

Dad B) >

**Dad B):** sorry kid, someone got sick at the end of their lesson. real fucking bummer

> nasty

**Dad B):** fr

 **Dad B):** you still need me to give you a lift?

> nah its chill ill just walk

**Dad B):** you sure?

> yeah i need to exercise the leg yknow

> once we get to the mall we’ll be doing this cool teen thing called sitting on the stairs and not shopping

**Dad B):** sick, see you later

> c yah

It would’ve been so easy to have just said yes, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he hadn’t. Nick pocketed his phone and had gotten up to leave when he heard some familiar voices. 

“I never said you two could ride with me.” Kimberly said as the two Oak twins followed behind her like little ducklings.

“We’re going the same way!” Sparrow insisted. “It’s smart, good for the environment!”

“And funny.” Lark added. “Since you’re so annoyed.”

Kimberly scowled, but didn’t try to stop them from following her down the steps of the school. 

“Hey, little dudes.” Nick called from where he was sitting. The twins stopped and turned to face him and, to his surprise, so did Kimberly.

“Nicholas Close,” Lark addressed, “Why is it that you are _here_ instead of en route, hm?”

Nick shrugged. “Dad couldn’t make it.”

“Well, where’s the other two idiots?” Kimberly asked. “Can’t _they_ drive you?”

He shrugged again. “Picking up some stuff from their houses, y’know? Left before I got my dad’s text.”

Sparrow smiled. “I guess you get to come with us then!”

Nick grinned and got to his feet. “Sick.”

Kimberly shook her head. “Hey, wait a fucking second. _No._ I didn’t agree to that. I didn’t even agree to _you_ coming. He can walk.”

Sparrow pouted. “Kimberlyyy, his leg is still _healing!_ And we’re going to be walking so much around the mall! And also it was _your_ step-dad’s bear trap that his leg got caught in and we’re covering you for that so, mmmmm, mayhaps consider thinking about it again?”

Lark smiled wide. “Yes, _do_ think about it carefully.”

_“Fuck me.”_ Kimberly continued forward and Nick figured that was as good an invitation as any.

Lark and Sparrow jumped into the back seat of Kimberly’s jeep and Nick joined them. No way did he want to be left alone in the front seat with her. The twins talked amongst themselves, and Nick resigned himself to looking out the window. He’d talked to Kimberly before, sure, but never casually. He wasn’t about to start now.

He’d bought weed from her in the past and that was about the extent of things. They had a vague awareness of each other’s whole deal through the overlap in social circles (Nick wasn’t sure if he could call his other friends _friends_ the same way he could the Forgotten Realms gang). 

They met at the kind of parties Nick would never bring the other boys to once or twice. They never actually interacted much, but they both noticed each other, at least.

There was one particular party that Nick remembered well though. He was in the same room as Kimberly and the football team — all so incredibly stupidly drunk — when the group started an argument over just how strong Kimberly actually was. To settle things once and for all, Kimberly showed her mettle by lifting one of the footballers (Noah? Kyle? Brad? Nick wasn’t sure of the name) bridal style. 

He silently watched the whole thing unfold.

Strong woman... and beefy man laughing as he was lifted into the air…. Nick’s bisexual brain was practically overheating. He had to leave the room before he said something stupid.

For about five minutes, Nick had the biggest crush on her. It wasn’t his fault. He was pretty out of it and she was, objectively speaking, pretty hot. That all evaporated pretty much as _soon_ as he saw her vomiting on the grass outside though, the football player from before holding back her hair. The shattering of aesthetic attraction was all he needed to remember that she was actually, y’know, the worst? And his brain plummeted back to Earth again.

He wasn’t sure why Sparrow had adopted her so quickly when she clearly didn’t want to be friends with him in return. At least with Lark and Finch he could chalk it up to them thinking bickering was some sort of weird flirting ritual. It was like, pack it _up_ , NaruMitsu. Sparrow though? Nick was _pretty_ sure insulting people wasn’t part of _his_ relationship arsenal. Whatever. The twins were fucking weird and impossible to calculate the thoughts of on a _good_ day.

The car trip passed by quickly and the group of them ended up waiting by the water fountain in the centre of the mall for the others to arrive. The twins had started up a game of finding similarities between everyone in their group, which Nick mostly ignored until they sat themselves down in the space between himself and Kimberly and looked between the pair.

Sparrow hummed. “What do _you_ two have in common?”

“Weed.” Nick said immediately.

Sparrow nodded before he suggested, “You both have dyed hair.” 

“Dead parent.” Lark chimed in.

Everyone looked to Lark and _froze._ Nick was looking to Kimberly, and Kimberly was looking pointedly not at any of them.

Lark slowly dawned on the realization that everyone wasn’t talking and had the unusual decency to look sheepish. “Oops.”

“ _Laaaaaark_.” Sparrow hissed out. “I found that out by accident! You weren’t supposed to say it!”

“Sorry?”

There was another beat of silence before Kimberly laughed. It was short and not very pleasant, but Nick was pretty sure it was the first time he’d ever actually _heard_ her laugh at all. She looked to Lark. “Next pole I see? Your head’s getting slammed into it.”

Lark grinned. “You can try!”

“I apologise greatly.” Sparrow said, bowing his head slightly. “Bee told me by accident because you told her because we were making this joke about Finch having enough parents to share and Bee mentioned you being apart of the dead parent club in passing and I shouldn’t have told Lark but I did and I’m sorry because you probably miss your dad a lot and want to see him again but-“

Kimberly raised her hand in front of his face and Sparrow cut the ramble short. She sighed. “I don’t care. If I hear another joke about it though, I’ll fuck you up.”

The twins both nodded in unison. 

“Noted!” Lark added for good measure.

“Agreement.” Sparrow gave another little nod.

It didn’t take long for the other two to arrive at their meeting point. Kimberly and Grant exchanged a look between themselves and then down at each other’s bulky sports bags. 

Grant patted his. “Axe.”

Kimberly gestured down at her own, vaguely. “Sword.”

He nodded, and they both looked away.

Grant wanted to split them up into two search teams, with one of the oldest two kids in each group. They also needed someone for magic and someone for fighting on each team. It ended up being Grant and the twins together, and then Terry, Kimberly and himself. Kimberly wasn’t even _there_ with them in the forgotten realms before, but Nick was pretty sure that she was their assigned fighter. That was fine. He could deal with just being ‘that guy’, he was cooler than the rest of them anyway.

Before they parted ways, Nick caught sight of Sparrow and Kimberly talking to each other to the side in hushed voices. He passed her something and she threw it around her neck. It was a necklace of some sorts, obviously, but she tucked the pendant beneath her shirt before Nick could see what it was.

Sparrow grabbed Lark’s hand as he followed after Grant. Nick grinned. He hoped the two of them never ‘grew up’, so to speak.

After that, things were going as well as they could be. Kimberly didn’t like talking much, and neither did Nick. They were in pretty mutual agreement about the not talking thing. TJ didn’t like talking unless other people were too, so he was content to stay silent as well. Which meant that things were mostly quiet and more than a little awkward. Nick wished he had at least been put with one of the twins. They could… he didn’t know, spice things up a bit? Attack a poor defenceless salesperson maybe?

They had been split up for a while in a large clothing store when Nick came across Kimberly absentmindedly running her hand across a rack of clothes. He stopped beside her.

She didn’t look his way. “This is so stupid.”

“What?”

“This is so _stupid_.” she repeated. “What are we even doing?”

He shrugged. “Looking for magic shit.”

“Do any of you even _know_ how to look for magic shit?”

Nick thought about it a moment before shrugging again. “Nah, not really. Sometimes things just work out.”

“That’s stupid.”

“I mean, you didn’t _have_ to come. Maybe _you’re_ stupid.”

She glared at him. Hard. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth frowned deeper and _maybe_ Nick melted just a little under the hot fire behind her dark eyes. He walked past her immediately, knowing she’d punched people for less. 

“Hey, guys.” TJ called from a few aisles away. The two of them looked his way and headed over, Nick’s half-insult forgotten.

TJ’s hands were pressed against the doors leading to the storeroom marked ‘staff only’, fingers tracing the lines in the wood visible through the faded and peeling white paint. His eyes dashed back and forth like he was trying to take in a million tiny things that Nick couldn’t see.

“You got something?” Nick asked, appearing at his side.

TJ glanced over at him, a small smile beginning to stretch across his face a little. His eyes were bright in the way that could only be brought on by working something out.

“I can _feel_ it,” TJ said, voice like a whisper. “Magic. I can feel it here. For real.”

He never talked about it, but Nick knew TJ missed being able to do magic. It was why he so easily slid into the role as group leader in the first place. Grant had the brains for strategy, and could fight pretty well, but TJ was a sight to behold on the battlefield. Magic flowed from him as easily as Nick could breath, and he spent hours pouring over books so he could perfect each incantation and hand movement and sigil. He put a lot of work into being one of their most important players, and back here on Earth, all that effort amounted to nothing.

It was nice, seeing him excited about it. Nick felt good when his friends felt good. Like a little vibe collector. 

“Can you figure out anything from here?” Nick asked.

TJ frowned. “I don’t know. I still don’t _have_ any magic, so I’m not sure how to like, figure out what I’m looking at.”

He leaned on the door, seemingly forgetting they were simply push-to-open and tumbled forward with a short yelp. He didn’t fall to the ground on the other side, he vanished head first into nothing.

Neither Kimberly nor Nick said anything for a bit, simply looking at the spot where TJ had been a moment ago. 

Kimberly sighed. “We should… we have to follow him, right?”

“ _Yeah…”_ Nick dragged out. “Yeah, we should… we should go after him.”

Kimberly gestured towards the door. “Ladies last.”

Nick rolled his eyes and stepped through. 

TJ wasn’t on the other side. There was _nothing_ on the other side, just multicoloured fog too thick to see anything but himself. He tried to step backwards again, but whatever portal had let him through wasn’t letting him back the same way. That was chill. Getting back would be a piece of cake once he found TJ.

The fog rolled past him slowly, glowing softly with every colour of the rainbow, and he looked down at the ground beneath him. Except, there wasn’t any floor to look at, there was just _more_ fog. His feet didn’t actually have anything to stand on, they just _stopped._

Fucking _wack._

Nick carefully took up a foot and gingerly set it down ahead of him. It stopped again at the same level as the other foot, which gave him confidence enough to start walking normally. He didn’t know exactly where he was going, but forward seemed as good an option as any.

He stopped in his tracks as a glowing figure appeared in the distance, visible even through the thick fog. Nick had the gut feeling that it wasn’t Terry, but continued forward anyway.

When he finally came close to them, Nick realised they were less of a glowing person and more of a person-shaped collection of glowing lights. Vivid blue and pinks and purples, ever moving but still forming a distinct person shape.

Bi rights, okay.

He studied the figure for a moment, and as some features lingered in place, Nick realised he knew the face the lights were trying to make. His breath hitched.

He stayed rooted in place, eyes wide. 

“Hey, mom.” Nick said, quiet enough that the other two wouldn’t be able to hear, wherever they were. “I know you probably aren’t really her, but it’s nice to see you.”

He almost felt guilty that he wasn’t sad to see her, but the truth was… he just couldn’t bring himself to be. He had always been sad about the _concept_ of having no mom, about the empty hole itself and not the person who used to fill it. He was sad for his dad’s sadness and maybe a little selfishly sad for the misery that often came with it for Nick. He longed to be upset sometimes. Wished that he could remember enough about her to miss her the way she deserved to be.

“Dad still misses you a lot, you know. But he’s better now. He made friends and shit, even if they’re pretty lame. I have friends now too. Real ones. It’s… it’s good. We’re good. It would be cool if you were still here, I guess, but we’re okay without you now. I hope I’m not too much of a disappointment to you.”

His mom didn’t say anything, Nick didn’t think she could. But she leaned in close and cupped his face in her hands. He expected them to feel like nothing, but they were like normal hands. Warm and soft and sturdy.

“Love you, mom.” He smiled.

His mom leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. She lingered against him for a moment, before she vanished completely.

He didn’t move, letting the feeling of the kiss rest on his forehead a moment. His hand drifted towards the spot, fingers hovering just above his skin. 

“ _I can’t do this again_.” Mumbled a voice. It echoed all around him and he couldn’t quite figure out which direction it was coming from.

“Hello?” Nick called out.

“Nick?”

TJ’s voice. It was easier to tell now. It was more direct, less broken. He got a vague direction from the sound and started to head that way through the fog. Nick couldn’t actually gauge how much time had passed, but he eventually came across the other boy. TJ was on the not-quite floor, face pressed into his knees and hands pushing against his ears like he was trying to cave his head in.

Ahead of him was the same kind of flickering image that Nick had seen before, but it didn’t look like his mom anymore. Instead, the kaleidoscopic colours flashed by to form someone that looked a _lot_ like TJ himself. Absolute master-detective Nick Close had enough context clues to figure out that he was looking at the six feet under dead ass Terry Senior.

“Hey, Terry J.” Nick said, crouching down next to his friend and placing a hand on his shoulder.

TJ didn’t react to the touch for a moment, then slowly looked up at him. He was already in tears. “Nick… I can’t- I can’t-“

Nick didn’t wait another second before wrapping his arms around him. With people like Grant and Lark, you had to be careful about giving them physical affection when they were upset, but it was never like that with Terry. TJ shut down or flared up when he got upset, and small bits of physical intimacy helped him get back to that funky middle ground he was comfortable with.

Nick was a lot smaller than TJ, but he didn’t feel like that now. TJ was bunched up so much that Nick felt big hugging him. Like a whole fucking adult or some shit. It was kinda tight. 

“I saw my mom.” He said, and continued when Terry didn’t reply. “She was… she didn’t try to attack me or anything, but…”

“I don’t _care_ if he’s real or not.” Terry replied, voice too bitter for the person behind it. “Him being not real is still _real.”_

Right, right. Vampire shit. Nick rubbed TJ’s back.

“Tell him you aren’t interested.”

TJ gave him a funny look. “What?”

“Well, I mean, I told ghost mom I didn’t think she was real and she sorta vamoosed after that, dude. Maybe you should just let him know you aren’t up to talking?”

TJ continued looking at him for another long moment before he turned to his ghost dad (he really had to have _every_ halloween thing ruined for him by his dead parent club membership, huh). “I can’t do this, dad. Even if you’re real… you’re- you’re dead. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

_“I’m sorry.”_ He said again, voice hushed and meek like he was confessing his sins.

He buried his head into Nick’s chest and Nick looked on at the ghost. They gave TJ a sad sort of smile before they slowly faded out, colours flickering out bit by bit until there was nothing left.

Nick waited a minute, letting TJ soak his shirt with silent tears a while. “He’s gone now, man.” He said gently.

TJ nodded, but didn’t move any further. Nick kept his hand steady on his back.

“Fuck.” Terry said at last, drawing back from Nick a little so that he could speak properly. Their hands lingered on each other still. “I was supposed to figure this out somehow, you know? I thought I would know what to do when we got here but…”

“It’s chill.” Nick reassured. “You’re the smartest fucking person I know, Teej. You can put everything together later.”

“Yeah…” TJ nodded. “Yeah, I just. I need to go home. We should find Kimberly.”

Nick was a little disappointed that TJ was clearly too shaken up to enjoy the chance to explore magic again. He deserved it, after all.

“Alright, lit. Let me just let the boys know what’s up.”

Server: Cold One With The Boys — General 

Friday 

**thisisthedollarstore:** tfw youre in a ghost dimension lmao

**mikustanonmain:** i-

 **mikustanonmain:** you guys good??

**thisisthedollarstore:** yall arent in a magic place?

**mikustanonmain:** no, we’re still searching

 **mikustanonmain:** we did stop to get ice cream tho

 **mikustanonmain:** I just couldn’t say no to both of them asking

**thisisthedollarstore:** haha weak

 **thisisthedollarstore:** you can stop looking if you want tj wants to head home after we find kimberly and get outta here

**lovewolf:** YOU LOST HER???

**thisisthedollarstore:** shes around here somewhere probably 

**thisisthedollarstore:** anyway idk the time difference between our planes but see you soon maybe

**mikustanonmain:** be careful

**lovewolf:** don’t get traaaaaapped!

**thisisthedollarstore:** aight

Kimberly didn’t respond to their calling, so they just picked a direction and started walking. Nick didn’t know much about how space worked here, but it seemed like no time at all before they came across her no problem. She wasn’t in a ball like TJ had been, or even relaxed like Nick, she was standing straight and frozen. Her eyes were trained on the flickering light show before her. The figure ahead of her, tall and slender, and with long straight hair, had to be her dad. They were caught in each other’s gazes like a trance. Neither of them moving. Neither of them talking.

Nick put his hand on her arm. “Yo, Kimberly.”

She looked to him blankly and her dark eyes were filled with colour. Blues and pinks and purples, all swirling around her pupil like a whirlpool, stark against the deep brown of her irises. Nick’s stomach sank a little and he let go of her arm. That could be a _bit_ of a problem, these images of their parents definitely weren’t just regular ghosts then. He took a step away and she slowly turned her head back to face the _thing._

Nick looked to TJ, and he knew by his face that he had seen it too.

“What the _fuck?”_ Nick asked in a whisper, even though there was no real need to.

“Some sort of enchantment?” TJ tried to answer with a shrug. He moved forward and Nick took a step aside

“Kimberly,” Tj began, “We need to get home. Come on.”

Nick didn’t think she was going to reply, but then after a few seconds had passed, she opened her mouth, “That’s my fucking dad, dude...”

“I know.” TJ replied, and then he sighed. “I _know._ But it’s not. I’m sorry, but it’s not, I know you want it to be. But it never is. You can’t trust it.”

She didn’t reply this time. She just kept _looking._

Nick rounded the other side of her and before TJ could stop him, he gave the girl a rough shove on the shoulder. If he knew anything about Kimberly Woo, it was that she responded well to violence.

And she did. She swung a strong punch his way, and only for his body being faster than his mind did he manage to dodge out of the way in time to avoid the hit. He looked back at her, expecting the trance to be broken, but she had returned to exactly the same position.

The colourful figure stretched out its hand and Kimberly slowly reached out for it. TJ and Nick slowly exchanged a look of sheer panic. 

Nick didn’t know what to do. He _never_ knew what to do.

TJ pushed Kimberly aside and grabbed the figure’s hand. 

Then Nick couldn’t see, his world was entirely blue and pink and purple. He shut his eyes, but there wasn’t any safe darkness behind them. He could still see the blues and the pinks and the purples, dancing and swirling and getting brighter and brighter and brighter...

They stopped. The space behind closed eyes was black again.

“What the fuck..?” Kimberly asked.

Nick opened his eyes. Kimberly was bent over a little, looking a little green around the gills and with her hand pressed against her temple. They made eye contact and then both looked over to where TJ was. 

His body was still standing there, but Nick took one look in his eyes and knew, somehow, that TJ wasn’t the one looking back. His eyes were the same as Kimberly’s had been, still their usual dark brown, but with colour cracking through the irises like gold-flecked marble. The ghost itself had vanished.

There was a crystal in the hand that had grabbed the ghost’s, splintered and pulsing with the same colours that had made up the fake parental figures. He began to walk away.

“Oh, _thanks_ , Kim.” Nick said, gesturing towards TJ. “You got Teej fucking _possessed_.”

Kimberly stood up straight, still holding her head. She watched TJ slowly walk away with bleary eyes. “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”

“Uh, _doy_ , dipshit.” Nick returned quickly. He considered himself a pretty chill person usually, but his friend was currently very possessed and he wasn’t sure what to do _other_ than getting upset about it. “Me and TJ did just fine with _our_ ghosts, you know.”

She let her hand fall away from her head and glared. “You want to try that again, big man? You want to tell me more about how strong and impressive you are before I knock your lights out?”

Nick closed his eyes on instinct, raising his arms defensively and readying himself for a hit.

“Hey,” Kimberly said, very much not hitting him, “What if we did that to _him_?”

Nick opened his eyes and peeked through his arms. “Huh?”

“We could hit him super hard, they do that in movies and shit, right? When people are mind controlled?”

Nick lowered his arms and considered it. “Like in The Avengers?”

She looked at him blankly. “Sure?”

He shrugged. “I don’t have a better idea. Fucking go for it.”

“Please don’t.” 

The two of them looked to Not Terry. He had stopped walking a little while away from them, and turned back to face the duo. His voice sounded normal enough, but it lacked any sort of character to it. No warmth, and completely monotonous. 

Still, Nick asked, “TJ?”

“No.” The thing replied.

“If they don’t want us to hit them then that means we’re on the right track.” Kimberly said confidently.

“We don’t want you to hit us because we don’t want to hurt this body.” The thing said. “We’re just borrowing it.”

“Borrowing it?” Nick echoed. “What are you?”

It tried to shrug, but it came off as too stiff. “A singular identity is a rather new thing to us. One fragment of the collective.”

Kimberly grimaced. “The collective?” 

“A collection of souls. Fused, joined, bonded. Pieces of us have been shattered, we just want to get back.”

“You made yourself look like my _mom.”_ Nick pressed, and that small flame in him was flaring up again. “You _acted_ like her.”

“We had to have you want us, we steal faces all the time.” They tried their best to frown like they were… apologetic, but Terry’s eyes didn’t follow suit. “We tried to make it nice for you.”

“I’m going to kill them.” Kimberly growled out. “I have a _sword._ I’ll kill them.”

“Kimberly.” Nick said, and he took a deep inhale to calm his own tone. “We can’t hurt TJ.”

She looked between Nick and TJ a little, her movement fast and jerky. “So I’ll take that crystal thing and smash it. Easy.”

Nick shook his head. “We can’t just kill them. They’re just trying to get home. If they don’t let TJ go when we get there, you can smash them _then.”_

“Like this isn’t some sort of trap?”

Maybe Nick was being stupid. Maybe it was just that the soft kiss against his forehead and now having an actual memory of his mom, though fake, that hadn’t just developed from a story his dad had told him had won him over too easily. But he trusted the fragment. They didn’t feel _evil_ to him, they just needed a way home. They were the same.

“If it’s a trap, it’s a trap. Scared that you can’t fight a few ghosts, Kim?”

She opened her mouth before shutting it tight again and giving him another glare. “It’s Kimberly.”

The fragment stood still as Nick approached, Kimberly following close behind them. Nick looked up at his friend’s blank face and tried his best not to freak out about not having someone more responsible in charge of things. “You’ve got to promise to let TJ go once you get back home.”

The fragment did its stiff shrug again. “Sure. I don’t want this tiny flesh prison anyway.”

The fragment turned and continued its walk. It didn’t seem to fully understand how body movement worked, their limbs shambling forward like a puppet on strings. Nick kept close behind them, and Kimberly stuck by his side. He ignored the way her hand rested firmly on her bag.

“What happened?” Nick asked after a while. “Why did you… separate? From the collective thing.”

“We are deeply connected with this plane.” They replied. “And the shattering of worlds brought the shattering of the soul. We have been smashed. Thrown across this plane as well as others. Lost from ourself.”

Nick and Kimberly looked to each other, her eyes holding the same worry he had worming its way into his chest. “The shattering of worlds?” He asked.

The fragment threw him a look, head leaning at a strange angle to do so. “I know some things this body knows, so let me use an Earth metaphor to explain this to you.”

Nick nodded.

“There is some sort of magic, that is like a weed? And the walls between the worlds are like the concrete. There are tiny cracks in the walls left from portals — natural and unnatural — and this magic is getting into them, expanding the cracks. You understand?”

“Wait, wait.” Kimberly said, one hand gesturing wildly about the air as she sidled up beside the fragment. “What does that actually _mean_ though? Worlds shattering?”

“Things are slipping through the cracks, that is all we know.”

Nick stepped closer to keep pace with the fragment on its other side. “So who’s doing this? The magic stuff?”

They did their stiff shrug again. “I am simply a shattered piece of soul, I’m no planar theory expert. Now, _dragonchess?_ Dragonchess I know well, I can play a mean game of dragonchess. I’m your fragment if you have any dragonchess questions.”

Nick honestly _did_ have questions about dragonchess, because that sounded sick, but he brushed those aside. Didn’t feel like the time, and he didn’t need Kimberly killing him.

“Do you know how it could be fixed?” Nick asked. 

“My knowledge is broken right now, but I can see if I have your answer once I am together again?”

Nick nodded. “Alright, sure. Sounds good.”

They walked a little further in silence until Kimberly spoke up. “So how far is this place anyway?”

“We don’t know. Space is weird. We could travel between the three of you, but not across the plane to our home. Distance is strange here, it’ll hurt your heads if you try to think about it. There is simply here and there and there is a rather subjective thing.”

Kimberly swore a little under her breath and looked away.

Slowly but surely, the landscape started to change around them. The colourful fog slowly lost its saturation until it was a glittering pale grey, and the floor began to solidify beneath their feet. It looked like a larger version of the crystal in TJ’s hand, clear and pulsing with blues and pinks and purples and stretching on for an eternity. 

It took another forever before the fragment finally stopped and crouched close to the ground. They found a sizable missing chunk of crystal and gingerly laid the shard in place — fitting the parts together as perfectly as two puzzle pieces. The edges emitted a bright white light, before it faded to reveal the shard had been fused to the collective again. The fragment, still in control of Terry’s body, smiled as well as it could before it looked to Nick.

“We think, maybe, that the worlds are a little stronger than concrete. They can heal. If you find the magic, remove it from the cracks, the worlds might do everything themselves. They just need a little help.”

Nick nodded. “Thanks.”

“If you see any more fragments of us, tell them we are looking, won’t you? Let them know we will be together again.”

Nick gave them a smile that he hoped was reassuring. “Will do, dude. That’s a Nick Close guarantee and everything, man.”

“We are… not a man.”

Nick gave a short awkward laugh. “It’s just a- sorry, I didn’t mean- sorry.”

“Regardless,” the fragment continued. “We thank you for preventing my shattering, and for your promise. Have your flesh boy back, we hope some part of us sees you again sometime.” They looked to Kimberly. “Not you though.”

Kimberly averted her eyes and before any other words could be shared, TJ’s body crumpled to the ground. Nick knelt down beside him to find he was already opening his eyes. His _just_ brown eyes. No blues, no pinks, no purples. 

Nick let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Hey, Terry J.”

Terry rubbed his nose and offered Nick a weak smile, propping himself up on his elbow. “Hey, Nick.”

Nick grinned. “Let’s blow this joint, dude.”

“Yeah,” Kimberly agreed, “This place is worse than the spooky death dimension. Remind me to never speak to you guys again after this.”

Getting home didn’t take too much effort, TJ had gone over the spell so well back on Earth that Nick was sure he could do it in his sleep. The whole holding hands thing was more than a little awkward, but, at the very least, none of them said anything about it.

They got home without any trouble, and the cracks between the worlds widened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me throwing away any pieces of lore attached to the planes and expanding on the one or two things I actually like: it’s free real estate 
> 
> nick: everyone has anger issues, dude, it comes free with your fucking dead parent


	22. 8LUH 8LUH HUGE 8ITCH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhh oop!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last kimberly centric chapter for a while, I promise we’re getting back to lark and finch soon stfu
> 
> god this took SO long to write janey mackers
> 
> lots of cw warnings in this one fam:  
> spiders, death, murder, verbal abuse (+use of the word c*nt and bitch uncensored by a man aggressively). There’s a particular piece of emotional and physical abuse that starts and ends at the *** if you need to skip. There are other events of verbal abuse and if you can’t make it through this or any other part of the chapter, please let me know and I’ll summarise whatever people need in the starting notes of the next chapter. Stay safe when reading! <3

Friday

honeybiscuit > lovewolf 19:14

**honeybiscuit:** allow me to offer you a little insider goss, little duck

**honeybiscuit:** I’ve found you another member of the bird name squad within your very social circle

**lovewolf:** i am ALL ears, my friend

**honeybiscuit:** it’s kimberly

**lovewolf:** you mean her sister?

**honeybiscuit:** nah nah nah!!

**honeybiscuit:** I am talking the big k herself. kimmy woo. assigned vriska kinnie. leelee. kimpossible.

**honeybiscuit:** first name kimberly, middle name jay

**lovewolf:** JAY

**honeybiscuit:** yknow, like the bird!

**lovewolf:** :0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**honeybiscuit:** B)

**lovewolf:** thank you so much!!

**honeybiscuit:** ofc!! :D!

**honeybiscuit:** but you didn’t hear it from me >:)

**lovewolf:** I think she can figure it out

**honeybiscuit:** yeah i know

**honeybiscuit:** I just wanted to say the line

  
  


finch > POWER 23:12

**finch:** hey

**POWER:** ughhhhhhhhhh what

**finch:** fine, fine. I’ll just leave and never tell you :/

**POWER:** NO!!! COME BACK AND TELL ME YOU HEATHEN

**finch:** k

**finch:** it’s not actually anything but nobody else really knows about the thing hence talking to you 

**POWER:** you delay,,,,, so much,,,,,,

**finch:** shut up

**finch:** anyway I think I might work on the shitty left thing I have. cognitive rehab, you know? it might not work or whatever because the research into that stuff is shitty honestly but yeah

**finch:** anyway that’s it, bye.

**POWER:** oh my GOD, you’re so annoying, stop. come back

**POWER:** that’s really cool!

**finch:** I guess

**POWER:** wait does bee not know about it???

**finch:** no

**finch:** don’t tell her

**POWER:** I meeeeean, I WON’T but that’s stupid

**POWER:** I thought you guys were back to being friends! 

**POWER:** you must embrace the strength of friendship 

**finch:** sure, i’ll think about it

**POWER:** very cool anyway >:) it’s like a battle… BUT WITH  _ YOUR OWN MIND _

**finch:** ha, guess so

**POWER:** FIGHT WELL OR I SHALL BE DISAPPOINTED 

**finch:** if my mind fights anything like you, it won’t be hard

**POWER:** FINCH

**POWER:** MIDDLE NAME

**POWER:** ANTONIO

**POWER:** HOW DARE YOU

**finch:** see you later <3

**POWER:** COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME COWARD

**POWER:** FINCH

**POWER:** FINCH

**POWER:** BIRD

**POWER:** MOTHERFUCKER

**POWER:** UGH

**POWER:** I hate you.

**finch:** no you don’t <3

**POWER:** AAAAAAAAA

  
  


Saturday 

thisisthedollarstore > finch 5:21

**thisisthedollarstore:** this u? [link to a tiktok page]

**finch:** it is five am.

**thisisthedollarstore:** and ur awake so???

**finch:** this u? [link to a tiktok page]

**thisisthedollarstore:** so you been holding onto that one huh

**thisisthedollarstore:** touché

**finch:** let’s keep this between us

**thisisthedollarstore:** dont want anyone finding out about your old cosplays?

**finch:** don’t want anyone finding out you’re just as susceptible to the unethical products of capitalism as the rest of us?

**thisisthedollarstore:** hm

**thisisthedollarstore:** its the homestuck phase in 2022 for me

**finch:** it’s the anime edits phase for me 

**thisisthedollarstore:** its the piss poor quality of your earlier cosplays for me bet you were holding that shit together with duct tape 

**finch:** it’s the failed attempts at dancing on beat for me. What are you - white?

**thisisthedollarstore:** ok.

**finch:** okay.

**thisisthedollarstore:** you hit me hard there

**thisisthedollarstore:** i am the GOD of the dancefloor but i respect the attempt

**finch:** cool

**finch:** you know i’m sorry if the weed stuff before made you feel weird, I wasn’t like, lying when I said I wasn’t uncomfortable around you

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh dw i had completely forgotten about that until just right now youe g youre g

**thisisthedollarstore:** i wasnt thinking about it

**thisisthedollarstore:** not that i dont think about making sure people are comfortable

**thisisthedollarstore:** uhhhhh you get what i mean

**finch:** sure

**thisisthedollarstore:** awesome

**thisisthedollarstore:** yknow it got pushed back a bit once my leg got hurtededed but i have this sick gig the week after prom if you wanted to drop by

**thisisthedollarstore:** i mean its a small opener thing but ig your crush will be there so you can flirt with him or something if you get bored

**finch:** I don’t  _ flirt _ with him

**thisisthedollarstore:** but you know who im talking about? interesting

**finch:** what

**finch:** hm? no, ofc not, I just mean I don’t flirt in general

**finch:** which he are you referring to? I don’t get it

**thisisthedollarstore:** aha i fucking knew it

**thisisthedollarstore:** god im such a motherfucking genius holy shit 

**finch:** don’t get it still

**thisisthedollarstore:** aha sure sure dw i wont tell him your secrets safe with me dude

**thisisthedollarstore:** wait is dude good i cant remember

**finch:** dude’s fine

**finch:** never try to talk to me about having a crush ever again tho

**thisisthedollarstore:** fine w/ me i already got all the info i needed

**thisisthedollarstore:** sherlock close babyyyy i should take over my aunts investigator shit id be so fucking good at it bro

**thisisthedollarstore:** pro tip?? youre going to a prom???? ask him to dance 

**finch:** im a shitty dancer

**thisisthedollarstore:** well yeah ive seen your tiktoks lmao

**thisisthedollarstore:** doesnt matter ask him anyway itll be fun 

**finch:** i’m not saying you’re right about anything but thanks

**thisisthedollarstore:** anytime bro anytime

  
  


bitchcentral > lovewolf 10:03

**bitchcentral:** you motherfuckers and your magic bullshit

**lovewolf:** good morning, friend kimberly!! (≧◡≦) ♡

**bitchcentral:** don’t good morning me

**bitchcentral:** you jackasses ruined my hair

**lovewolf:** your hair?

**bitchcentral:** yesterday it was fine, and then you convinced me to come on your stupid fucking magic trip and I woke up this morning with a gray streak in my hair

**lovewolf:** kimberly!! I know it may not be well know but getting a few gray hairs can actually be pretty normal at your age! it isn’t anything to worry about!

**bitchcentral:** sparrow.

**bitchcentral:** I don’t mean a gray hair singular 

**bitchcentral:** I mean there is an entire goddamn  _ lock  _ in my dyed ass hair that is now entirely gray

**lovewolf:** yes, I suppose that doesn’t seem that normal

**bitchcentral:** you  _ suppose? _

**lovewolf:** so you look like anna?

**bitchcentral:** what

**lovewolf:** from frozen!

**bitchcentral:** fix this.

**lovewolf:** but do you look like anna???

**bitchcentral:** a little

**bitchcentral:** now fix this

**lovewolf:** have you tried just cutting it off?

**bitchcentral:** I snipped a few hairs off but everytime I did I kept finding  _ more  _ so I figured it was best to stop

**lovewolf:** hmmmmmm we could shave it all!

**bitchcentral:** I’m not shaving off my hair

**lovewolf:** I think you would look pretty cool!

**bitchcentral:** I’m. not. shaving. off. my. hair.

**lovewolf:** I’ll come over to your house and see what I can do!

**bitchcentral:** that’s not what I said

**lovewolf:** okay! I have other options for you! 1) my house! if you don’t mind dealing with Lark! 2) somewhere public like the mall again! 3) we go to your house but go into the woods or something?

**bitchcentral:** fuck you’re right, I don’t want to travel anywhere looking like this

**bitchcentral:** you can come over if you don’t fuck around

**bitchcentral:** and if I tell you something, you gotta do it

**lovewolf:** within… reason?

**bitchcentral:** yeah just like, if I tell you ‘no shoes in the house’ then you don’t wear shoes in the house. that sort of thing.

**lovewolf:** then that is o-a-k by me!

**bitchcentral:** huh

**lovewolf:** like a-ok

**lovewolf:** but our name

**lovewolf:** it sounds better out loud 

**bitchcentral:** I’ll bet.

**lovewolf:** I’ll be right over!

**bitchcentral:** hella

**lovewolf:** hella hella, kimberly jay

**bitchcentral:** excuse me?

**lovewolf:** love you! bye!!

  
  


Saturday 10:42 — The Miller Residence

Sparrow

Sparrow held the strands of gray hair between his hands and hummed as he focused. “I don’t think weird dimension travel does  _ this _ , otherwise all the rest of us would have weird hair too!”

“Then what is it?” She asked, voice stern.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A magic thing?”

“I don’t  _ have  _ a magic thing. You tried to teach me, remember?”

“Maybe you weren’t trying hard enough?”

Kimberly glared and Sparrow corrected himself quickly. “Maybe it didn’t kick in for a while?”

“I don’t  _ want  _ a magic thing. I’m  _ done  _ with magic things.”

Sparrow shrugged again. “Too bad?”

Kimberly opened her mouth to reply, but froze at the sound of a car pulling up outside the house. She stayed frozen for another moment before she sprang to her feet and looked towards him with a kind of panic Sparrow hadn’t even seen on her face in the spooky scary death dimension. 

“Get in the closet.” She said.

Sparrow didn’t move, mostly out of confusion for what was happening. “What?”

“I told you to do what I said when you’re here, yeah? Get in the  _ fucking _ closet, Sparrow.” She pointed out the wardrobe in question. Her voice didn’t raise from much more than a whisper, but it took up a harsher tone. 

Sparrow didn’t question it any further. He quickly made his way to the wardrobe and jumped inside. Kimberly followed and came to a stop in front of him, holding a door handle in each hand. “If you feel like speaking up? Don’t. You’ll screw me over, got it?”

There were heavy footsteps coming up the stairs now. Kimberly looked towards the bedroom door and back at him, desperately.

Sparrow nodded, and she carefully shut the doors. He could just barely see the room through a small space between the two doors. It let a little ray of light through, enough to see the small spider chilling on the closet floor beside his foot. They were pretty cute, Sparrow liked insects.

Her wardrobe stank of cigarette smoke in a way her bedroom didn’t. It was her clothes that carried the scent, he figured. It was almost suffocating.

Kimberly didn’t even make it back to her bed before the bedroom door swung open and a man barged in. 

He was taller than Kimberly was, but lacked the toned muscle that she did. The best word Sparrow could think to describe him with was  _ scruffy.  _ His clothes were wrinkled and sat weirdly on his person, and his dark shabby-looking beard looked as if he had simply let it grow because he’d forgotten to cut it. His bushy partially-white eyebrows furrowed. “What are you doing?”

***

“Nothing.” Kimberly replied quickly. Sparrow sensed they both knew it was  _ too  _ quickly.

“You’re hiding something from me,” he figured, “you smoking fucking pot again?”

She shook her head. “I’m not, I promise.”

“The fuck does your  _ promises  _ mean anymore? You lie like it's your goddamn job.”

“I’m sorry.” She replied, and it was  _ meek.  _ Quieter than Sparrow had ever seen her. Her head hung like a dog. 

“I’m sorry, what?”

She took a quick glance at the wardrobe that her step-dad didn’t seem to catch. Her voice raised just a little. “Look, I already  _ said  _ I was sorry, man. Can’t you just-“

He slapped her.

When it happened, it was like there was no noise  _ but  _ the slap. Like the forest and the wind and Sparrow’s breathing all decided to quieten just for a half-second to make the noise all the worse. Sparrow clasped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from making a sound. He considered bursting through the doors and giving the man a piece of his mind, but quickly remembered what Kimberly said to him. Making himself known would make things worse for her. He wasn’t the best at impulse control, but he could figure it out this time. For her.

Her head turned sharply with the slap and it stayed like that even when her step-dad took back his hand. Her own hand raised and lingered over her cheek for a moment or two.

Sparrow expected her to lash out. He was  _ ready  _ to see this old bastard get his ass handed to him because even though he was taller, Sparrow had firm faith that Kimberly could win the fight.

She faced the man again, but there was no fire in her eyes like Sparrow expected. Her expression is painfully neutral. “I’m sorry,  _ sir.” _

The man smiled. “ _ That’s  _ my girl. You promise you’re not hiding anything from me?”

She smiled back, and it was the worst thing Sparrow had ever seen. “You know I wouldn’t. Not anymore.”

He hugged her and her face twisted up into a grimace as she was pulled tight into his embrace. Her arms stayed limp by her side. “That’s what I like to hear. Don’t want to upset your mother, do you?”

As he broke away from the hug, she quickly bounced back to smiling pleasantly at him. “Of course not.”

***

They exchanged another few words before he left. Kimberly stared at the closed bedroom door for a long moment before she finally crossed the room to let Sparrow out.

“You shouldn’t try leaving while he’s still here. We’ll go up to the roof instead.”

They maneuvered out through Kimberly’s bedroom window and up onto the roof. Neither of them spoke for a long time. 

Sparrow was the first to break the silence. “That’s why you didn’t want him getting in trouble for the bear trap — because he scares you?”

Kimberly snapped her head towards him, eyes burning white-hot. “Do you ever  _ not _ pry into people’s business?”

Sparrow pushed himself further across the roof. “Sorry, I-”

She looked away from him. “I’m not fucking  _ scared  _ of him. I know I could beat his ass if I wanted to, but he’s  _ insane.” _

Sparrow bit down on his tongue to stop himself from pointing out that using the word ‘insane’ was a little problematic. It was still true, but he could table that discussion for another time.

Her voice was shaky, but harsh still. “If he got pissed off enough, there’s a good chance he could hurt my mom and my sister. He could fucking kill them, for all I know. You wouldn’t  _ get  _ it, Sparrow. So fucking wrapped up in yourself.”

He was quiet for a long while, and then, “I was kidnapped by my grandfather.”

Kimberly looked his way again, but Sparrow couldn’t get a good read on her expression.

“I was kidnapped by him and he slammed me into a wall and he killed Lark. We were in fake bodies, but it still hurt the same. Then my grandmother killed  _ him _ with knitting needles.” He took one of her hands in his, and she let him, looking at a loss for words. “Family is weird, and sometimes bad. I understand.”

Kimberly sighed, but didn’t shake off his hand. Her voice had cooled. “He’s not family.”

“Neither was my grandfather.”

They sat in silence for a while, a cool breeze gently passing them by. It was still early in the day, sky bright and mostly clear of clouds. It was nice to spend a moment of nothing with her without having to be stuck in another dimension to do so, even if it had been preceded by something awful.

“How did you find out about my middle name?” Kimberly asked after a while. She still spoke like she had a weight on her chest, but it was less angry now. She pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her deep pockets and lit one. Sparrow didn’t like being around cigarettes much, but they were in open air and it seemed like she needed it. He pretended not to notice the way her hands shook as she fiddled with the lighter.

“Bee.” Sparrow replied honestly. “Don’t be mad at her though.”

“I’m not, it’s just a name.” She shrugged. “Don’t make a whole bird name club thing out of it though.”

“Okay...” Sparrow paused a while. “So, do you talk to Bee a lot?”

Kimberly took a drag from her cigarette and the two of them watched the smoke on its journey upwards. “Mostly her and Finch talk about rubbish and they occasionally drag me into things.”

“It’s sad she can’t come to prom, I think she’d be fun.”

“She is.”

“... fun?”

“Coming to prom.”

“But there’s no one left to invite her.”

Kimberly looked briefly amused. “I invited her, stupid. She and Finch were talking about how they’d have to wait ‘til next year to go to prom together and how she can’t go to something this year with someone because she’s homeschooled and, I don’t know, I wasn’t bringing anybody, so.”

“Awwwwwwww.” Sparrow cooed. “You actually did a nice thing!”

“You don’t have to sound surprised.”

Sparrow laughed. “You’d be  _ more  _ angry if I  _ wasn’t  _ surprised.”

She laughed with him. “True enough.”

They sat there for a long time. Sparrow babbled on about anything that came to mind while Kimberly continued to smoke, occasionally chiming in. He didn’t let go of her hand, and she didn’t force him to. Sparrow had called her a friend for a short while now, but he was starting to think that it was actually true.

Nothing bonded people quite like abusive family members did, he supposed. 

  
  


Saturday 11:37 — The Miller Residence Roof

Kimberly 

Peace could only last so long. Her step-father’s voice sounded from the open window of her bedroom.

Kimberly quickly stamped out her cigarette (her second.  _ look _ , she was having a rough day.) and tossed it off the roof, hoping it would land on the dirt and that the wind wouldn’t carry it over to something more flammable.

But she had a whole ass person beside her as well, and she couldn’t exactly throw Sparrow off the roof too. She released her hand from his grip immediately and got to her feet.

“Don’t say a fucking word.” She told him. It was for his own good that he let her do the talking. Sparrow was an idiot and Richard wouldn’t have the patience for it.

“I can help! I’m a good fighter!” Sparrow insisted. There was a sort of anger behind his eyes and creeping into his tone that Kimberly didn’t even  _ know  _ Sparrow could have. She was sure, in that moment, that she never wanted to see that anger unleashed.

“ _ Please _ .” She pressed, and he didn’t make another protest. As she turned away from him, her hand instinctively reached up to touch the necklace she still had under her shirt. The one Sparrow had gifted her yesterday. The pendant was a wolf’s canine tooth. Sparrow had insisted it was real, though ethically sourced, and that the spirit of the wolf would protect her. It hadn’t yesterday, but she couldn’t help but find strength in it now.

Her step-father poked his head up through the open window and  _ glowered  _ when he caught sight of the boy beside her. She knew what assumptions he was making despite how  _ gross  _ those assumptions were.

He pulled himself up the roof faster than she had ever seen him move and stalked towards her. 

“Not hiding anything from me, huh? What the fuck do you call  _ this  _ then, you lying  _ fucking _ cunt?”

She took an unsteady breath and tried her best to look non-threatening. “I can… I can explain this.”

“Oh, I’d  _ love  _ to hear it.”

“I-“

“Hey! Look at that!” Sparrow chirped far too-excitedly for the situation at hand. 

Kimberly looked back towards Sparrow and followed his gaze to somewhere on the ground. 

She took a step back. “Holy  _ shit.” _

It was a spider. A  _ giant  _ spider. A ‘bigger than her’ spider. A wholeass monster spider. Coming towards the house. Coming towards  _ them _ . 

“What is it?” Richard asked, pushing past her. The spider was  _ just  _ underneath them now, and as her step-father looked down, the creature hissed up at him in a way she was  _ pretty sure  _ spiders usually couldn’t.

He took an involuntary leap backwards, crashing into Kimberly as he did. She managed to stay standing, though Richard lost his balance enough to crash down onto the slanted roof beside her. He slid down the slope fast, only finding his grip at the very end when his wrinkled fingers curled tight around the gutter.

If it weren’t for the giant arachnid below and the fact that her step-father was swinging dangerously right above said arachnid, she would’ve rolled her eyes at the display.

Kimberly carefully made her way down the roof and stopped just in front of his hands. She peered over at her step-dad as he hung white-knuckled from the gutter. She stood straight and tall, looming over him with her full height. 

“Kimberly!” He called to her desperately. “Kimberly, help me up. There’s a good girl.”

She couldn’t move. Her gaze was drawn to the giant spider crawling about underneath him instead.

She was taking too long.

“Kimberly.  _ Kimberly.  _ You fucking  _ bitch.  _ Help me up.  _ Kimberly _ .”

She let out a slow exhale and continued to look at the spider. The fall wouldn’t kill him, but the spider would probably finish the job. If the spider was distracted with him, it would give her and Sparrow time to do something. If it  _ wasn’t  _ distracted, it would probably climb the walls or jump or  _ something.  _ It was definitely hostile, the hissing and raised front legs was a sure sign of that.

What the fuck? She…  _ couldn’t  _ do that. There was a difference between wanting to hurt someone and throwing them off a fucking roof.

His voice softened when she didn’t move still. “Kimberly… love, come on. What would your mother say?”

She wasn’t thinking. There was a sort of fire beneath her skin that hadn’t been there previously. Kimberly’d felt this way before when she’d started fights, but usually she could stop herself if she  _ really  _ needed to. It was like the mention of her  _ mamá  _ had summoned a rage within her that she couldn’t control. It was taking possession of her.

She raised her foot and brought it down hard on his fingers. 

The impact made a sickening sort of crunch. He yelled, hand jerking back and body swinging wildly as his weight shifted to rely solely on the other. 

“Fuck!” He exclaimed, shaking out his injured hand.

Kimberly couldn’t stop herself from moving again, but she didn’t  _ want  _ to stop. Whatever this fire was, it felt  _ good.  _ It made her feel strong and powerful in a way she had  _ never  _ felt around her step-father.

She crushed the fingers on the other hand too.

She didn’t watch him fall, turned away before she could. The fire was already cooling. She hadn’t actually  _ meant  _ to do that. Well, she  _ had _ , but only… whatever. Fuck him. They had a chance now.

Sparrow approached and Kimberly realised she hadn’t been paying him any attention. Had he been watching everything? It was hard to tell.

He stopped a little before her and, after looking down at the ground, gave her a small smile. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to be joyful or reassuring or apologetic or  _ what.  _ Creepy ass bitch. “Roofs sure are slippery, huh?”

“Sure are.”

He continued looking down. “Hmm.”

Kimberly grimaced. “Maybe he’s still alive?”

Sparrow frowned. “I mean, and I don’t think you should look, but I can’t see much of what’s going on. He’s probably been bitten and injected with venom by now so that the spider can spit some digestive enzymes onto him to make him go all gooey!” 

She wrinkled up her nose. “Wow! Gross!”

“Yeah!”

She sighed and shook out her hands like it would help somehow. “What do we do? Wait inside?”

Sparrow turned away from the edge of the roof and punched his hand. “We should fight!”

“That’s stupid.”

“You have a sword!”

She did her best to glare him down. He was as immune to it as always. “It’s in the  _ truck.” _

“Which is on the side of the house that the spider  _ isn’t  _ right now!”

Kimberly sighed and pinched her nose. “Alright fine, let’s hurry. If the spider comes for us, I’m throwing you at it.”

Sparrow nodded and they made a scramble to Kimberly’s window. She ran through the house faster than she remembered ever running before, and was relieved to find no spider in sight as they rushed out the back door and into the backseat of her truck.

It was a relief to grab hold of the sword again. Despite having once belonged to someone else, it felt like it was  _ made  _ for her. Like she was meant to be the one holding it. It felt  _ right. _

Kimberly had expected to feel more rattled once they were out of immediate danger, but she still felt  _ nothing  _ towards her act of well… well, fucking  _ murder,  _ she guessed. She was still too high on adrenaline to make heads or tails of anything. There was… relief, maybe? Pride? God, she shouldn’t have felt  _ proud,  _ but that’s definitely what it was. Proud of her power, proud of being able to help her mom at last, proud of her  _ rage. _

There was something terribly wrong with her.

She caught sight of Sparrow checking his phone.

POWER > lovewolf 11:36

**POWER:** mother wishes to know when you’ll be back so she can calculate how much lunch and dinner she must make at the designated lunch and dinner times

Sparrow pressed his screen a few times before putting his phone on loudspeaker.

> wonderful brother lark <3!!!! 

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Greetings, brother.”

> “Greetings! I will not be making it to lunch, I think, as I am currently engaged in some combat.

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Combat? Who are you to fight?”

> “Well, I know not  _ who  _ I am doing battle with, but I do know  _ what  _ it is.”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Oh? Pray tell, pray tell.”

> “Imagine, if you will, a spider.”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Done and done.”

> “Now, imagine it far bigger.”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “How big?”

> “Well, if we’re speaking in terms of tiny to gargantuan, I would say it classes as large, brother.”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Hmm, yes. I understand completely. I- No, mother! I do not require sustenance right now, I am conversing with Sparrow- apologies, brother.”

> “No problem!”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Well- hold on, it is mother again. Hold please~!”

> “Mmhm! Take your time!”

Kimberly shot him a glare from where she was sitting. “Take your time?” She hissed.

Sparrow gave her a very solemn look in return. “Mother is  _ not _ to be rushed.”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Hello. Sparrow?”

> “Speaking!”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Mother says she wishes to do battle with the spider alongside you if you’re going to try. She wanted father to come from work but he has not answered his phone. Although, one, Glenn Close is here-“

> “Oh! Are they drinking wine together in the garden?”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Oh, of course, brother! They are dishing out the ‘hot goss’, so to speak.”

> “Delightful!”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Indeed! As he is here, mother says she will bring him along.”

> “The more the merrier!”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Of course, of course. Where is it that you are?”

> “You remember friend Kimberly’s house?”

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “Ew, you’re with Kimberly?”

Kimberly tried her hardest to get her continued glare clearly understood through her voice alone.  _ “I heard that.” _

**wonderful brother lark <3 !!!!: ** “And? Die mad about it. Brother Sparrow, we shall be there shortly! Do not fall in battle without me!”

> “I would  _ never.” _

Lark laughed and hung up the phone.

Before Kimberly could rest easy, the spider rounded the corner. It was too-fast for something that big. The beast approached them, front legs climbing up the front of the car and resting on the windshield.

Kimberly hadn’t ever seen the details of a spider so intimately before. She wished she could’ve continued her entire life without having seen each and every twitching hair on the spindly legs before her face and without having matched gaze with those beady four pairs of eyes.

The truck rocked dangerously as the spider rested more of its weight on the bonnet, and Kimberly threw Sparrow a glance. “We need to do something, we can’t just  _ wait. _ ”

Sparrow nodded. “I agree.”

Like the spider could  _ sense  _ something was happening, it crawled off the car and backed away a few paces. It hissed again, raising its front legs in the air.

Beside her, Sparrow reached out his hand in the direction of the spider. With fingers out-stretched and palm facing up, he quickly thrust up his hand before squeezing it tight into a fist. Kimberly frowned, but that was before she saw what he had actually done.

There were vines wrapped around the creature now, and more were shooting up from the ground to envelop it further. It’s body was pulled to the dirt, it’s legs flailing to try get enough of a grip against the ground to push itself up again.

“Your turn!” Sparrow chirped.

She wanted to question why he could suddenly do magic again. How long had he fucking known he could do that and  _ why  _ hadn’t he done it before now? Instead, she looked down at the sword in her hands and opened the door. Stepping out of the truck and towards the creature, the sword felt too familiar in her grip for something she had never even used before. 

With the spider bound by whatever magic Sparrow had done, each and every one of Kimberly’s hits landed their mark. She sliced through the spider as easily as she’d cut a knife across butter, through its legs and down the middle of its pedicel. It ripped clean in half, with a splattering of blue  _ something  _ that burned like boiling water when it hit her skin.

She hissed and stepped back, holding her sword in front of her defensively despite the fact the spider wasn’t moving. It had been dead several hits ago.

“I wonder how it breathes.”

Kimberly turned to see Sparrow had left the truck at some point and lingered just a little behind her now. “What?”

Sparrow was still looking at the corpse. “Spiders this big shouldn't be able to breath, there isn’t enough oxygen in the air. Maybe they have a different respiratory system than  _ our  _ spiders do? Maybe Faerun has more oxygen in the air and it was struggling here the entire time.”

“What - You want to fucking dissect it?” She fake offered him her sword

He looked at the weapon thoughtfully. “Mayhaps,,,”

She pulled a face. “I was kidding. You’re not doing that shit in my backyard.”

He looked a little disappointed.

She didn’t know how long they stayed standing there, but Kimberly figured it had been a  _ while  _ when she was broken out of her thoughts by a loud yelling of “Sparoooooooow!” She hadn’t even heard the car arrive.

Lark rounded the corner at mach speed, nearly crashing into his brother before he skidded to a halt. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Sparrow returned with an easy smile.

Lark grinned. “I saw the dead body in front of the house!”

“Was it gross?” Sparrow asked excitedly.

“ _ Super _ gross!”

Two figures soon followed after Lark. The taller of which was obviously the twins’ mom, whose name Kimberly didn’t actually know. Lark had called the other one ‘Glenn Close’, which had to make him Nick’s dad. He certainly  _ looked _ a lot like that asshole. Same height deficiency too.

While the twins’ mom joined Lark at Sparrow’s side, Glenn crouched down in front of the spider. He pulled a biro from his jacket pocket and went to poke it, retracting his hand a little when it started to flicker in and out of sight like a goddamn computer glitch. 

The Oak-Garcia family were talking amongst themselves. Their mom angled Sparrow’s face between her fingers like she was looking for injuries. The twins took each other's hands.

Kimberly looked back to Glenn again, where the spider vanished from reality once more and  _ stayed  _ gone, leaving behind nothing but a dark blue stain on the ground and some loose vines. He slowly lowered his pen. “ _ Woah… _ less cleanup, I guess... Sick.”

She continued to watch him aimlessly analyse the stain on the ground like that was actually  _ helping _ , failing to notice Sparrow’s mom trying to get her attention until she repeated what she said a third time.

“Kim?”

Kimberly snapped out of it, looking towards the woman. Her mind was still a little… off. She supposed things had been fucking  _ weird  _ today.

“It’s Kimberly.”

“Kimberly, sorry. I’m Mercedes. Are you doing alright, dear? You went through a lot today.”

“I’m fine.” Kimberly insisted, looking away from her. When she felt Sparrow’s glare on her, she added a quick, “Thanks.”

Sparrow recounted the tale of the day’s events in dramatic fashion to their audience, which Kimberly chose not to assist with. She  _ was  _ more with it now though, so she actually heard the sound of a car pulling up this time.

_ Shit.  _

That was her family arriving home. Her mom couldn’t see a dead body. Her  _ sister  _ couldn’t see a dead body. 

Kimberly ran to meet them before they could see what had happened. She pushed past the Oak-Garcias and sprinted around the house to the other side. She arrived just as her mom was getting out of the car and scanned the area, but there wasn’t a corpse in sight. Only a few scatterings of red where the body  _ should  _ have been, but Kimberly covered that up by quickly kicking around the dirt a little.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank FUCK. Traumatising her sister was the only way this day could get any worse. For once in her life she thanked bullshit magic and the fact it made cleanup just that much easier.

Her mom smiled as she caught sight of her. “Kim, you going to help me bring in the groceries?”

The  _ groceries.  _ God, that was so normal in a way that felt off-putting after everything. What was she supposed to say? ‘Hey mom, I killed your husband. Thoughts?”

“I- sure,  _ mamá,  _ but-“

“Love the new hair by the way.”

“ _ Mamá,  _ I need to-“

There was a loud exclamation from the other side of the house. One of the twins. They couldn’t’ve been quiet for  _ one  _ moment more to give her enough time to explain the situation. Her mom moved past her to look around the corner of the house. Kimberly gave her sister a little wave through the car window before she ran and stopped in front of her. 

The entirety of the other group was away from the cover the back of the house could provide. Fully visible from the side of the house.

Kimberly rushed to explain. “A lot of weird shit has happened today and-“

But her mom wasn’t looking at her, she was looking at something past her. Right.  _ Right.  _ Strange adults around her kid, that was a weird thing. She needed to introduce them first.

Kimberly sighed. “Mom, this is-“

“Mercedes?” Her mom finished, voice wavering a little. She looked… upset? But not a bad kind of upset. There were clearly tears welling up in her eyes, but she was smiling in a way Kimberly hadn’t seen in months.

Kimberly looked back at Mercedes, who had a similar expression written across her own face. She gasped a little. “Jacinta?”

And then they were running at each other until they crashed into a hug. Mercedes, the bigger of the two women, hugged her mom tight enough that her feet lifted slightly from the ground. They were laughing and crying, and Kimberly…. Kimberly was confused, mostly.

She looked to Sparrow, who shrugged. Glenn was still crouched low to the ground, highly engrossed in the spider stain on the dirt, Lark leaning on his shoulder and equally interested.

“I didn’t even realise!” Mercedes said with a wide smile. “Kimberly looks so different now! She’s grown so much!”

“Look at  _ your  _ boys!” Her mom returned. “They used to be such  _ small  _ little things.”

“Uh,” Kimberly interrupted, and the two women looked her way, “what  _ is  _ this exactly?”

Mercedes was the first to speak, though she looked back at Sparrow instead of at her. “ _ Pollito,  _ you remember the family photos I’ve shown you before? I’ve told you about your Aunt Jac.”

“Oh!” Sparrow exclaimed. “ _ Oh!” _

“Sorry, what?” Kimberly asked, dread setting in. “Aunt?”

Her mom smiled, and it looked more sad than anything. “I suppose you wouldn’t remember, Kimmy. You haven’t seen her in quite some time.” She gestured a hand toward the taller woman. “This is my sister. Your aunt Mercedes.”

She said nothing for a moment or two, then looked to Sparrow — her… fucking  _ cousin?  _ — and then to  _ Lark,  _ and when she turned back to her mother and her aunt, there was only one thing she could think to say.

“Holy shit, I slammed your kid’s head into a fucking  _ pole.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for a long time in the writing process there was a lot of [write mores] but THAT scene was [Kimberly Commits A Murder] for about two weeks or so
> 
> gotta love that barbarian rage
> 
> not super happy with my writing with this chapter either but!! sometimes you just gotta say ‘i’m done with this’


	23. the one with time skips so we can get to fucking prom already

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: abuse victim defending/justifying abuser. skip the end of the merc and jac conversation if you’re starting to feel uncomfortable, I promise it isn’t too relevant plot wise or whatever
> 
> yikes fam im mega tired

Saturday

lovewolf > bitchcentral 12:16

**lovewolf:** your dad is a part of bird name squad!!!!!!!

**bitchcentral:** is not.

**lovewolf:** i JUST heard it with my very own ears

**lovewolf:** dodo! like the bird! my mother said it, I heard it clearly !!

**bitchcentral:** it's Woo Do-Yeon. If you call him dodo, i'll fucking kill you

**lovewolf:** mayhaps I should believe those once empty death threats now! twould not be the first time you've killed today

**bitchcentral:** i didn't  _ kill  _ him. 

**lovewolf:** KIMBERLY

**bitchcentral:** what.

**lovewolf:** i was talking about the spider!!!!

**bitchcentral:** oh.

**bitchcentral:** well.

**bitchcentral:** oh my GOD, stop laughing, my mom's looking at us

**lovewolf:** okay :(

**lovewolf:** how come I can't call your father Dodo but my mother can? unjust!!

**bitchcentral:** because im not going to yell at your MOM dude

**lovewolf:** hm. fine. my mother IS very respectable

**lovewolf:** so how are you feeling?

**lovewolf:** i will hide my screen from my dearest brother so he may not see your answer.

**bitchcentral:** has lark been looking at our conversation this entire time??

**lovewolf:** obviously?

**bitchcentral:** i hate you two

**bitchcentral:** and i hate that i'm related to you two.

**bitchcentral:** you can show him those texts

**lovewolf:** okay!

**lovewolf:** Better to be you and have hardened warriors for kin than to be us and suffer the disappointment that is you and how much you detest the ways of magic and other realms.

**lovewolf:** that was lark! :D!

**bitchcentral:** i saw.

**lovewolf:** i am presently hiding the screen! how are you feeling?

**bitchcentral:** fine?

**bitchcentral:** i mean like

**bitchcentral:** pretty good actually?

**bitchcentral:** like really damn good?

**bitchcentral:** that's probably a bad thing? idk, im whatever

**lovewolf:** I think that's pretty understandable! 

**bitchcentral:** okay but you're weird. what you find understandable probably isn't most people would

**lovewolf:** likely factual!

**bitchcentral:** obviously

Server: The Doodlers — General

Saturday 12:28

**bitchcentral:** you bitches have nothing on me anymore btw

**bitchcentral:** i'm going to take up those traps and you won't have shit about shit! no more blackmail on me. I'll wear the chains of those fuckers as a goddamn necklace to prom

**teejay:** so which one of the twins did something?

**lovewolf:** we didn't do anything this time!

**POWER:** beloved Brother Sparrow and unbeloved Cousin Kimberly had many the experience today

**POWER:** involving a giant spider and the death of her step-father and some revelations and the like!

**bitchcentral:** fuck me, don't tell them about that part

**POWER:** the death or the spider slaying?

**bitchcentral:** i was very obviously talking about the cousin part

**POWER:** well see, now YOU have said it too and are equally culpable 

**bitchcentral:** have I told you that you're a little shit lately? because you are. you're a tiny little asshole

**POWER:** i am NOT lacking in height

**bitchcentral:** looking at you is like looking down from a cliff, you're just so fucking small. ridiculously short

**thisisthedollarstore:** they used to be way smaller

**thisisthedollarstore:** like little gremlins lmao

**lovewolf:** father used to say it was a miracle that we could fit so much spirit in such tiny bodies

**thisisthedollarstore:** see thats just it like you had normal amounts of energy but it was all condensed down into motherfucking tiiiiny ass bodies so you guyss energy was like concentrated and shit

**lovewolf:** nicholas,,, you are SO wise.

**thisisthedollarstore:** hells yeah i am

**teejay:** cousins?

**miku stan on main:** spider slaying? 

**lovewolf:** our mothers, previously thought to be completely unrelated, turned out to be related in a VERY literal sense!

**finch:** wild

**honeybiscuit:** oh!! very cute!

**honeybiscuit:** what's the giant spider and death stuff about tho? y'all okay??

**bitchcentral:** yeah dw about it

**finch:** sus

**honeybiscuit:** very!

**honeybiscuit:** but I won't pry!

**teejay:** we’re just done and over with the whole cousin thing like that? 

**bitchcentral:** yes

**POWER:** yes

**lovewolf:** I can talk about it in GREAT detail!

**thisisthedollarstore:** oh please bc im so lost

**thisisthedollarstore:** kidding my pops told me about it all already

**thisisthedollarstore:** close boy gossip squad gang gang

**miku stan on main:** I swear he texts you ONLY when there’s tea

**thisisthedollarstore:** damn maybe so

**thisisthedollarstore:** but at least my dad knows how to text

**thisisthedollarstore:** what does your dad do? call you still? awkward as hell

**thisisthedollarstore:** my dad? with it

**teejay:** chill out, nick. everything’s fine

**thisisthedollarstore:** ??? im chill

**teejay:** just making sure.

**bitchcentral:** okay no one text anymore, i'm starting to get a headache listening to you idiots go on

**thisisthedollarstore:** and im tired of looking at your wacked up attempt at cutting your own hair every day but me? i mind my own business

**bitchcentral:** i  _ will  _ kill you one day

**thisisthedollarstore:** cool

**thisisthedollarstore:** the twins get to decide my funeral stuff cause i trust them to do the weirdest thing

**POWER:** i give you my word, Nicholas!!!! it will be, as you might say, epic

**thisisthedollarstore:** pog okay

**bitchcentral:** hate it here

Jacinta Miller (Garcia) — The Miller Residence Kitchen

The kids (Glenn included) had been kicked out of the room a little while ago to give them some privacy, though Jacinta had opted for keeping Starling with her.

Mercedes rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “I was only coming over to collect Sparrow.”

Jacinta frowned and shifted Starling over to her other knee. Her sister still had such an obvious tell despite the years they’d spent apart. She couldn’t quite grasp why Merc would lie though. She knew her well enough to know it wouldn’t be for anything malicious, but it worried her still that she felt the need to keep something from her.

“I’m… sorry. again. That Kimberly slammed Lark’s head into a pole.” She said instead of voicing her concerns. 

Mercedes laughed a little and shrugged. “I know I did worse to  _ our  _ cousins as a kid. Lark was probably looking for the fight, if I had to guess. At least she and Sparrow seem to be on better terms.”

“Funny thing, them ending up friends despite everything.” 

Mercedes smiled and took a slow sip of tea. Jac loved her smile, it was bright and unabashed and always felt like a gift. “Fate is funny like that sometimes.”

It was a nice way of thinking about things. Fate. The universe trying to knit a family back together by its own accord despite how much Jac tore at it.

“What happened, Jac?” Mercedes asked. “It was like you dropped off the face of the Earth.”

Jac’s free hand gripped tight around her mug, the other pulled Starling closer. 

She really didn’t  _ know _ what happened to her. It was before Dodo even died, like something in her had died first. She couldn’t eat half the time, and most mornings she could hardly get herself out of bed. The world slowed to an agonising crawl, and she couldn’t bare talking to anyone. Every phone call was declined.

Family had tried to visit sometimes, but Jac made sure Dodo wouldn’t let them near her. He didn’t like it, per se. But she knew he wouldn’t want her to cut off one of the only people she had left by refusing to talk to him too.

It was alright with her husband and her daughter, since they  _ had  _ to be around all the time anyway. Sometimes his voice in the mornings was enough to carry her down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Sometimes Kimberly’s soft eyes were enough to convince her to do what she wanted. On the better days, she and Dodo leant against each other on the couch, Kimberly sat snug between them, and they would watch whatever stupid film was on. Those moments were perfect. She almost felt alive again.

When he died, it was like a shock to her system. A bucket of cold water down her back. She had always assumed that if he were to go out, it would be from something big. He’d die on duty from smoke or a falling beam trying to carry people out of a fire, or as a civilian he’d try to stop a mugging, or... or  _ something _ . Something big and brave and  _ him _ . Not something as common as a heart attack. Not something so  _ normal _ .

Jac managed to step it up a notch for Kimberly’s sake. She managed to make food and drop her to school and all the bare necessities, but it was a lot. She wanted to go back to bed, sleep forever. Kimberly kept her going still, albeit mechanically. 

She had met Richard in a supermarket just a couple of years later, and she was quickly flush with feelings she hadn’t felt in a long time. He was charming and smart and clearly interested, and so she hadn’t refused when he asked for her number. And to her surprise, she hadn’t said no to the dates either.

He didn’t make her feel...  _ better _ , but it was like socialising again allowed her to reclaim pieces of herself that she had lost long ago. Life became less of a chore and more of an obstacle course. Challenging, but more enjoyable than it’d been before. Starling had only added to that enjoyment once she came along.

Jac found it too easy to forgive him when he ‘messed up’ once they were married. Each hit came with an apology and flowers. Each time she swore she was done with him, he won her back over. She knew, of course, that he was a dangerous person for her daughters to be around. But she was also sure it would never come to that. He was a good person, he rescued her from a dark place, he just... got a little heated sometimes.

There had been some  _ especially _ rough times lately where she’d considered grabbing the girls and running. But every time, she realised she had nowhere to go. She hadn’t talked to her family in years, and she only had pennies to call her own. She didn’t even have any friends.

Even if she was sure Richard was a good person underneath it all, she was pretty sure staying with him was a sake of financial security rather than love at this point.

“I don’t know.” Jac replied at last. “I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry.”

Merc reached out and placed her palm on the hand Jac had wrapped around her mug. “Don’t be sorry. I love you, okay? If you ever need help, me and Henry will be here for you. No matter what it is. Big or small.”

Jac believed her. Mercedes always did fit well into the protective older sister role. 

Jac didn’t say anything in return, she simply nodded. Maybe this time... maybe she would reach out when she needed to. Maybe she could broaden her connections to include her old family again. Not that Richard would approve.

_ No _ . 

_ No _ . Mercedes was her sister. She couldn’t simply toss her out of her life again, not even if he said so. She’d find a way to make it seem appealing to him somehow.

Because she needed her sister again. She couldn’t let her go so easily.

Thursday

lovewolf > finch 21:34

**lovewolf:** finch! may I talk to you momentarily?

**finch:** sure. what's up?

**lovewolf:** How is it that you came to a complete awareness of yourself?

**finch:** sparrow, please. you're great but my tiny little brain has no idea what you're talking about

**lovewolf:** how did you learn that they/them was your preference? what gave you the revelation?

**finch:** OH. hm.

**finch:** okay so like, there wasn't really... a revelation? or whatever? I didn't know for ages. I tried just about every pronoun there was before settling on they/them actually. he/him, neopronouns, nounself pronouns, whatever. At one point a lot of people were just resorting to they/them for me bc it was a little hard to keep track? which isn't like, the coolest thing in the world for them to have done but bc of that I realised i really liked they/them pronouns way better than the other stuff? so I stuck with it? it was messy

**lovewolf:** so what lesson do I learn from this?

**finch:** uhhhhhh hm.

**finch:** some people might know what works for them just by knowing? but when you don't know, sometimes you just have to experiment until things feel right? ig

**finch:** does that make sense?

**lovewolf:** yes!

**finch:** cool

**finch:** if you want, you can just use me as a sounding board for seeing what you like? if you aren't ready to try with other people

**lovewolf:** that sounds good! but I wouldn't know where to start!!

**finch:** explain the sitch

**lovewolf:** i do not feel uncomfortable with he/him, I think? but other days he/him feels lesser and they/them seems rather enticing? and some days i wish ONLY to go by they/them? or OCCASIONALLY there are other occasions in which I have looked very strongly at what you referred to as 'neopronouns'? I believe it may be hard to try out things to find what I like when I simply cannot settle on my feelings towards anything for very long!

**finch:** i mean, not everyone has to  _ settle  _ y'know? it could be that you're just a little lost right now, but also? gender can just be a fluid thing sometimes, you don't HAVE to land on something

**finch:** I'm not like, telling you that you're genderfluid or anything but just, gender isn't always a straight line thing so no need to be rigid about it or try to find the box you fit in immediately 

**lovewolf:** genderfluid

**finch:** yes?

**lovewolf:** OH

**lovewolf:** oh,,,

**lovewolf:** oh!!!!

**finch:** you doing okay?

**lovewolf:** I forgot that was a thing!

**finch:** you did?

**lovewolf:** not in general! But in regards to me! I did not consider it!

**finch:** well consider it ig

**finch:** if it works for you

**lovewolf:** it might!

**lovewolf:** I need to talk to someone first though.

  
  


lovewolf > POWER 21:49

**lovewolf:** greetings, brother!

**POWER:** greetings, brother!!

**lovewolf:** no!

**POWER:** no?

**lovewolf:** mayhaps I should preface this with something

**lovewolf:** how would you feel if we were the same a lesser amount

**POWER:** hmmmmmmmm have you received a scar? because that is VERY cool

**lovewolf:** no! consider this hypothetical change being of the personality sort

**POWER:** such as you being a pacifist and I not following you on that path?

**lovewolf:** oh, I suppose that IS near the same

**lovewolf:** do you ever feel bad about that?

**POWER:** I feel no guilt for it

**lovewolf:** nay brother, not about denying pacifism. do you ever feel remorse for us not being as similar as we used to?

**POWER:** mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

**POWER:** no!

**POWER:** our differences allow us to cover more ground! It only makes us more resourceful and powerful! you feel bad about it though, mayhaps?

**lovewolf:** no!

**POWER:** hm.

**lovewolf:** but I am no longer your brother

**POWER:** ah.

**POWER:** a disownment.

**lovewolf:** NO!

**POWER:** i jest.

**POWER:** but I do not fully understand your meaning

**lovewolf:** perhaps if sometimes I were to be your brother and other times your sibling, you would not be upset?

**POWER:** I see! This is a matter concerning one’s gender, yes?

**lovewolf:** an accurate reading

**POWER:** I understand, I understand

**POWER:** In that case, how you relate to me matters not, Sparrow! For even were we to be thrown into different bodies with no memory of one another, I am sure we would find our way to each other again. Not only are we kin through blood, but also by spirit! Our souls are intertwined! What matters most is that we never let differences split us apart! We must let them strengthen our bond!!! Differences as MINOR as gender are barely a concern

**lovewolf:** you have a great fire to your words

**lovewolf:** you always regard yourself as a person of violence, but I think love is your greatest strength.

**POWER:** well i'm no lovewolf

**POWER:** but i DO love you

**lovewolf:** :D!!!! <3!!

**POWER:** <3!!

**POWER:** you could have simply talked to me about this rather than carry out needless text charades

**lovewolf:** I was worried you would be upset!

**POWER:** I still do not understand why you would think so

**lovewolf:** you don’t EVER feel strange that we aren’t as similar as we used to be? at all?

**POWER:** nope!

**lovewolf:** oh me neither I was simply checking! I’m glad we’re both so okay with everything then

**POWER:** hmm okay. stop being weird and come back to the room, your duck children miss you

**lovewolf:** i shall return posthaste!!

  
  


PROM NIGHT

Lark

As much as Lark loved his father, he wished they had all gone to another house for prom preparations. He was already taking pictures and they weren’t even dressed yet.

“Father,” Sparrow put their hand on their father’s arm, “You will leave the room.”

He frowned a little in return. “But this is such a big night for you two! The first time my two beautiful cubs go to a big dance!”

Lark was glad their father had adjusted so quickly to his sibling’s flux gender state, but he did wish their new collective name was something that  _ didn’t  _ link them to their parent’s lion nickname motif for one another.

Lark joined Sparrow in putting a hand on their father’s arm. “You may photograph us once we are ready! Leave us.”

With a few more positive affirmations thrown their way, their father finally left them alone. Lark didn’t delay getting ready, he wanted to be dressed by the time the others arrived. He hadn’t been too invested in choosing an outfit, simply allowing Terry to do the work for him. He ended up getting a simple black suit with a dark grey shirt to go underneath. TJ had picked it up for a rather cheap price, then modified it to include bright green accents to better suit the wearer. He had also picked out some nice shoes for Lark to wear, but he had opted for wearing a pair of trainers instead. Lark was sure TJ wouldn’t be impressed that he was wearing his suit jacket open and his bowtie loose, but he decided it simply looked better that way.

Sparrow was fiddling with their gloves when Lark heard a car pull up. He rushed out of the room, sliding the bannister of the stairs to the bottom and opening the front door. He caught sight of Nick and his father exchanging a fistbump before the teen got out of the car and started walking towards the house. 

“Hurry up!” Lark yelled.

Nick grinned. “Chill out, chicklet. There’s no rush.”

“Yes there is!” Lark argued. “Because you’re taking forevvverrr.”

It was  _ true _ . Nick was a slow walker and it was killing Lark bit by bit. How Nicholas could go through life so  _ casually,  _ Lark could never understand.

As soon as the front door was shut, Lark grabbed Nick by the wrist and yanked him up the stairs. The other kid had to near yell to return the greetings Lark’s parents offered.

They came to a stop in the bedroom and Lark released his death grip. Nick grasped his wrist like it was severely hurt for a moment for the drama of it all before he sighed. “Jeez okay, who’s going first?”

Nick was already dressed in an outfit pretty similar to Lark’s own. A black suit with a dark grey shirt and simple black shoes. However, unlike Lark, his sleeves were pushed up past his elbows and his red bowtie was neatly tied around his collar. His shirt was only half tucked in, but Lark was sure that was purposeful. It looked good, very Nickcore. He had obviously redone his hair pretty recently too, the red streak was more vibrant than ever.

Sparrow elected to have their hair done first. They nested themself in the middle of their bed, dress spread wide around them. Nick gingerly maneuvered around the skirt to sit behind them, sitting cross legged and taking a brush in hand. He took a careful look at Sparrow’s hair, knotted to high heaven, and let out a short huff before taking off his fingerless gloves and setting them aside. “We might be here a while.”

Lark had to admire his sibling’s patience, they were stiller than he had ever seen them. Still fidgeting, of course — neither of them could ever be  _ truly  _ still — but they managed to stay in one place longer than Lark felt he ever could. Nick brushed out Sparrow’s knots faster than expected, and was soon neatly twisting their hair into one large braid down their back, interweaving Sparrow’s chosen faux pink floral decorations as he went.

He was only just finishing Sparrow’s hair when the other two arrived. TJ had dressed to the nines in a sleek off-white vest over a white shirt with stripes of the same off-white shade. The only pop of colour was a dusty red tie tucked neat into his vest. Grant had wanted to keep things pretty normal looking with a simple admiral blue suit and blue tie, though Terry had been able to convince him to get a gold vest with it, and had fitted every piece himself to better suit Grant.

Lark was glad that the others had arrived before Nick had gotten started on his hair. Now that the doodlers had assembled, conversation floated easily between them. It was easier to keep his energy focused just on fiddling with his hands and the fabric of his suit when there was talking to keep track of.

Nick tied his hair back in the same braid as Sparrow’s, but left out any decoration and kept a poof of hair towards the front of his head loose from the plait. Lark appreciated it, ‘twas like a hint of freedom from the neat hair prison he had been caught up in.

“Terry J, my guy, my dude,” Nick began a little while later, “do my eyeliner.”

TJ smiled but tsked to cover it. “You know how to do your own makeup.”

“But that’s  _ effort.” _

“Sounds like a you problem.”

Nick groaned and collapsed back dramatically from where he’d been sitting on the floor. “You wound me.”

It only took a few seconds more for Nick to win TJ over, and while Terry worked his steady hands on Nick’s make-up, Grant moved closer to where the twins were perched on Sparrow’s bed. He leaned his arms on the duvet and looked up at the two of them. 

“How you two feeling about your first prom?”

Lark shrugged. “It’s only a foolish dance, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. I want to put salt in the punch, I think.”

Sparrow grinned. “Delectably devious! But of course, that will only manage to affect one or two people once word gets around, so perhaps as a long term option we could-” They finally caught sight of Grant frowning and changed their tune. “We could… not? Do that.”

Grant laughed a little. “Yeah, I think that’d be best. Don’t want you guys getting kicked out of your first prom.”

Sparrow hummed. “You assume we would be caught… we would not.”

“We are masters of stealth.” Lark nodded.

“It’s just the principle of letting everyone else have a good time that gives me pause.” Sparrow continued.

Grant shook his head a little, his loose hair moving with him. “Whatever gets you two through the night without wrecking havoc, I guess.”

“Oh, but havoc…” Lark placed a hand against his chest and thrust the other out into the open air. “I yearn for it.”

Things moved by pretty quickly. His mother kissed himself and Sparrow goodbye more times than necessary and the car ride to the school was packed full of conversation led by his father that nobody seemed particularly engaged in. Lark skillfully and subtly managed to sneak out of further talk upon their arrival by jumping out of the car and slamming the door shut behind him. The rest of the group followed pretty quickly.

They found Kimberly, Finch and Bee just a little ways across the parking lot. Bee was animatedly discussing something with Finch, so it was his cousin (an awful thought still) who caught sight of them first. She didn’t call out to them, but nudged Finch and nodded their way. 

They smiled upon seeing the group. “Hey, guys.”

Lark’s gaze stopped on Finch first. They were dressed surprisingly nice, if a little eclectic. A lengthy pink skirt sat loose over a baggy pair of black trousers that bunched up on their legs due to the height of their shining silver demonias. Their tailed suit jacket closed over a white shirt, a pale pink bowtie wrapped snug around their neck. Their hair was tied back neater than usual in a simple short ponytail.

Kimberly was dressed pretty simply, wearing the black dress she’d bought with Sparrow along with matching gloves and heels. Her hair was loose for once, tucked behind her ears and spilling down her back in choppy, uneven layers. She’d kept her word and wore what was presumably the chains of the bear traps — although she opted to use them as a sort of belt settling on her hips instead of a necklace in the end.

Bee looked a mess, but in a way that worked for her. Her suit was an eyesore of clashing colours, with simple gold epaulettes resting on her shoulders to tie it all together. Her eyeshadow was neon green and gold, her lipstick purple, and her hair had gained at least two new colours since Lark had last seen her in person. 

There was an exchanging of greetings, after which Bee looked to Sparrow. “How are your little ducklings doing?”

“Wonderful! I have some new photographs of them that I took this very morning if you wish to see?”

“Is that even a question? Give me a look.”

Nick decided to interrupt. “So, when are they going to be big enough that you can make like, chicken nugget type shit with them?”

Sparrow punched Nick hard in the arm. “Rude!”

He rubbed at his arm and smiled. “‘m just fucking around, no worries… duck pancakes though?”

Sparrow hit him again.

They decided quickly enough that they would still participate in the entrance photos in couplings, because at this point, at the fault of the whole promposal fiasco, continuing to act like one another’s dates had become inexplicably funny regardless of any actual comedic substance a situation might possess.

The arrangements set by the promposals themselves wouldn’t work though — too messy, no real pairs could emerge. So they had to go by whoever their ticket in was.

Grant looked between the twins. “Did you have Sparrow or did  _ I  _ have Sparrow.”

“I had Sparrow.” Terry replied confidently, before he put a hand to his face in thought. “Or maybe Lark?”

Nick shook his head and let out a little ‘tch’. “Least I remember who  _ I’m  _ supposed to bring.” He offered an elbow to Finch, who easily wrapped their arm around it. Lark couldn’t explain why, but he didn’t like it. “The coolest dude and the second coolest dude. The rest of you are fucking outclassed by the sheer combined strength on our united coolness.”

TJ picked up a dramatic tone. “So that promposal you made… it all meant nothing to you?  _ I  _ meant nothing to you?”

Nick managed to keep a straight face and closed his eyes solemnly, raising his free hand to offer Terry the devil horns. “It is what it is.”

“Never before have I been betrayed like this... “ TJ continued, amping up the drama. “Never will I love again.”

“Wow.” Grant said, looking towards the twins. “See how easily he forgets me? My  _ heart _ .”

Sparrow gently patted Grant’s arm. “There, there.”

Bee looked towards Kimberly and grinned wide. “That just leaves you and me, Woo.”

Kimberly took a step back. “I mean, we don’t have to do the whole stupid- I… sure.”

That went over far differently than what Lark had been expecting. 

He decided to end the twin date deliberation by taking Terry’s hand in his and gesturing towards the school. “Onward!”

Sparrow followed suit and grabbed Grant’s hand. “Onward!”

Perhaps prom wouldn’t be completely boring despite the abandonment of the salt-punch plan. Maybe Lark was even a  _ little _ excited. He grinned at Sparrow, who grinned back, and they set off towards the school.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> — finally nearing the end of the prom arc  
> — YES i can include timeskips with implied background conversation shhhhhh  
> — i lovvvve my son,,, nick close  
> — yes i said that terry is good at modifying clothes and that nick is good with hair. what about it  
> — also read the dead glenn au fic and stan glenn/henry. this is my design
> 
> attempting to do this for nanowrimo so depending on whether or not i can write in order you will either get a LOT or no updates this month
> 
> mwah mwah love you


	24. Prom Night!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the prom arc draws to a close with some short fun snippets of the prom night itself ✨
> 
> i feel like, there are MANY people in this chapter and that i am QUITE tired. so if you see me use the wrong pronoun somewhere can you just..... lmk? thank you.

PROM NIGHT

Grant

“Did you see where the twins went?” Terry asked.

Grant shrugged. “Sparrow went off somewhere with Kimberly and I’m pretty sure Lark said that he’s ‘scoping the battlefield’.”

“Right.” Terry replied, before his voice grew heavy with concern.  _ “Right.  _ I should… I should probably make sure he isn’t killing someone.”

“If Lark was set on killing someone, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to stop him. Take a break for like, five seconds.”

“But-”

Grant let his voice drop low. “Sit.”

Terry complied.

Grant’s friends were all good at different things when it came to his mental health. Nick was good at supplying distractions when he didn’t feel like talking about anything. He was more empathetic than most people gave him credit for, and could usually figure out what Grant’s vibes were before anyone else. He could make him feel better when he needed it. The twins helped him get out all his pent up energy. Whether it be sports or play fighting, the two of them let him direct it all somewhere. They understood inclinations towards violence in a way the other two didn’t, and also didn’t mind joking about gore or death. 

But  _ TJ _ . TJ was the one there for him on his darkest days. The light in the void. He talked him through his worst thoughts and always stayed with him for as long as he needed. Terry liked to help people, he was good at it. The problem, however, was the fact he never seemed able to drop the role.

The others didn’t notice it, Grant was pretty sure. It was all the ‘Terry’s the mom friend’ stuff, and none of the ‘Terry’s a control freak.’

Okay, overly harsh maybe. Terry wasn’t a  _ control freak,  _ but Grant was pretty worried about how much of himself he gave to other people. It was pretty normal right now, but there were times that it could build up so much that Terry was spending more emotional energy than he could actually afford to give on others. He needed to relax. At least a little.

“What about Nick?”

Grant sighed. “We literally saw him about two seconds ago with Bee, dude. You done?”

“I-”

Grant interrupted before he could continue. “Either we’re dancing or you can sit here and tell me what art piece you’re working on right now.”

Terry looked to the dancefloor and pulled a face, before looking back at Grant and sighing heavily. “Well, I’m thinking about doing this painting-”

_ Finally,  _ Grant thought,  _ TJ focusing on TJ. _

  
  


Sparrow

Sparrow never suffered from shame at all, but the way those girls were looking at them felt… more than a little off-putting. It was moreso that they felt bad  _ for  _ them, for being so judgemental. Still, feeling bad at  _ all _ hadn’t been their plan for the night, they were supposed to be on cloud nine! They took a deep breath and looked towards Kimberly, only to find she was already looking back at them.

She hummed. “You should meet Brad.”

“Brad?” Sparrow echoed. They racked their brain a moment. They were  _ pretty  _ positive that Brad was someone on the football team. It made sense that Kimberly would know someone like that, but they weren’t exactly sure why she wanted them to meet him.

She led them over to a well-built brunet in an ill-fitting tux, hair tied back in a short ponytail. When he caught sight of Kimberly, he smiled wide. “Heyyy, Kimberly! What it issss? You look great! What’s up? You know, Darren snuck in some booze if you wanted some.”

“Thanks.” She responded rather neutrally before gesturing toward her cousin. “You know Sparrow?”

Brad looked over at them and narrowed his eyes momentarily. “Hmmm… oh! Oh, you’re the one from the, uh… the petition thing right? Or is that the other one? There’s like, two of you, I think?”

“There is!” Sparrow replied. “But that was me, yes.”

Brad grinned “Fucking tight! I wish I had known that stuff about Michael way long ago, little dude. Transphobia just ain’t poggers, man, me and the boys? Don’t vibe with that shit. My boys are like, supportive as FUCK, dude, don’t even worry about about it.”

Sparrow couldn’t help but smile a little at how earnestly he was talking. He was clearly… trying his best.

“Happy to bring awareness to it.” Sparrow nodded.

Brad looked at them again and Sparrow noticed his eyes linger on their dress. “Wait a minute. Oh shit. I said ‘man’ right? I’m so sorry, dude- fuck uh- I mean, I’m so sorry, my- uh- my person. I didn’t mean to assume or any of that shit.”

Sparrow laughed a little. “No, no! It’s okay! I don’t actually mind those kinds of words!”

Brad nodded, clearly relieved to have not offended Sparrow. “So what are your… I forgot the word, uh, Kimberly? What’s the like, gender noun word?”

Kimberly sighed a little. “Pronouns, Brad.”

“Yes! Yes. What are your pronouns?”

“Well, right now it’s they/them!”

“Right now?” He repeated.

“Well, I’m experimenting with the genderfluid label currently.” Sparrow explained. When Brad still looked a little lost, they continued. “Sometimes I like he/him, and other times I like they/them, and I might try out some other stuff eventually! It just… changes! Fluid like water, always shifting!”

“Yoooooooo.” Brad replied. “Yooooo! I didn’t know that was something you could  _ do!  _ That’s so cool! Kimberly, did  _ you  _ know about this?”

Kimberly nodded. “Yeah.”

Brad looked back to Sparrow once again and mimed his head exploding with his hands and added fitting sound effects with his mouth. “You’re blowing my  _ mind _ , dude. That’s the coolest shit I’ve ever heard!”

Sparrow grinned. “Thank you!”

Brad nodded enthusiastically. “And your dress is cool too! Pink is totally your colour!”

The conversation continued on like that for a while. Brad tried his best to be supportive about a lot while clearly having a very shaky grasp on many topics. Sparrow appreciated his enthusiasm. By the time he left to go get a drink, Sparrow had decided they liked him quite a bit and felt a lot better overall having talked to him.

“He’s… a lot.” Kimberly said. “But his parents are pretty shit people, so he’s new to this kind of stuff, y’know?”

Sparrow nodded. “So… how many times have you punched  _ him?” _

Kimberly let herself smile. “A few times on the arm, nothing too serious. He’s stupid as fuck, but he’s good at avoiding making people angry.”

“An impressive feat, considering you.”

“Watch it, idiot. I’m not afraid to punch you just because you’re my cousin.”

Sparrow grinned wide. “And  _ I’m  _ not afraid to bite you in return!”

Kimberly laughed a little and Sparrow felt any of their previous mixed feelings melt away. 

  
  


Lark

“Do you want to dance?”

Lark looked to his side to find Finch standing close. He hadn’t noticed them approach. “What?”

“Do you want to dance?” They repeated.

“Why?”

Finch’s eyebrows knitted close together. “Because… fun?”

Lark shrugged. “I don’t really dance.”

Finch’s mouth twisted up into that  _ godforsaken  _ half-smile, and Lark knew something was coming. “Oh, you’re scared. I get it.”

Lark  _ knew  _ it was a trap, but he couldn’t help himself from falling into it. Anger twisted up in his guts and he felt heat rush to his cheeks. “Am not!”

“You’re an awful dancer, so you’re scared to dance in front of me in case you embarrass yourself. No need to explain, I understand.”

Lark scowled and grabbed a tight hold of Finch’s wrist, marching towards the dancefloor. “You’re the  _ worst.” _

Finch didn’t say anything in response, but when Lark looked back at them, their half-smile had softened into something warmer. He wanted to punch them in the face for it.

It was awkward at first. They arrived at the dancefloor when a song was just ending, and the two of them were simply left standing and staring at one another.

But when the next song kicked it, it was all instinctual. The music was loud and fast and obnoxious and perfect. They grabbed each other by the hands and spun. And it was as if the whole world spun with them.

It was probably the worst dance Lark had ever had. They were surrounded by sweaty teenagers, neither of them could figure out how they were supposed to move, and Finch stepped on his toes more than once.

But they were laughing together and living in each other’s space, and the other people seemed to fade away in an instant. They danced together through one song and then the next and the next. Badly, but united in their total lack of rhythm.

Lark twirled Finch closer to himself before he boldly dipped them, and they both continued laughing until suddenly they weren’t. 

Lark was quickly too-aware of Finch being close enough to him that he could feel their hot breath on his face and of how the multicoloured lights up above caught on their face in a way that complimented every feature and of the heat in his own face that was beginning to overwhelm him.

Lark felt sick, and suddenly Finch seemed too heavy in his arms. 

“I need to go.” Lark said.

“What?” Finch’s face fell.

Lark pulled Finch to their feet. “I- I feel sick. I need to go. I’ll be back later.”

He was aware of the crowd again, and it felt like it had been multiplied fifty times over. A hundred million people surrounding him, looking at him, crushing him. Everyone was too close. He could feel sweat running down his neck.

He ran.

  
  
  


Kimberly

  
  


“Makeup brushes.” Bee said.

“An eyeshadow palette.” Nick countered.

She grinned. “This suit.”

“A guitar.”

“A  _ live  _ duckling.”

“A minivan.”

“A minivan?”

Nick smiled. “Hell yeah, man. Me and my dad hijacked this honda odyssey Grant’s dad owned.”

“Sick.”

Kimberly finally stepped into the conversation after having observed the back and forth for far too long. “ _ What  _ are you talking about?”

“We were comparing things we’ve stolen before.” Bee replied.

Kimberly’s eyes widened and she looked to Nick. “Why the fuck would you and your dad steal a minivan?”

Nick shrugged. “You know how it is.”

Bee nodded like she understood before switching the topic. “Where did Sparrow go? I thought they were with you?”

“I left them with the football team.” Kimberly replied. “They’re getting on like a house on fire.”

She looked across the room towards the area Brad and the rest of the football team had gathered. Sparrow wasn’t with them.

“Hold on a sec.” She told the pair beside her, making her way over to the himbo gang. “Brad.”

He turned his head and grinned wide when he saw her. Dude looked like a goddamn puppy dog. “Kimberly! Jack want to know if you were selling weed tonight?”

She ignored him. “Where’s Sparrow?”

“Oh, uh… oh! Steph wanted to talk to ‘em.”

“Mitchellin?”

“Yeah!”

“That fucking whore.”

“ _ Oh _ .”

Kimberly didn’t reply to him any further. She swept the room for the bitch in question and found her standing in a small circle of girls by the punch bowl. Kimberly  _ marched  _ her way towards her, Brad tailing close behind.

“Stephanie.”

The girl in question whipped her hair around, smile dropping when she caught sight of Kimberly’s face and its stormy expression. Very quickly, she molded her shock back into something more smug.

“Kimberly, dear. Something wrong?”

Kimberly wasn’t up for playing verbal cat and mouse games. She grabbed hold of Stephanie’s necklace and pulled her close to her face. “You said something to Sparrow didn’t you?”

“Sure, I had a conversation with him.”

“Uh,” Brad interjected over Kimberly’s shoulder. “They actually said said it’s they noun stuff right now, dude. Not him.”

Stephanie trained her gaze on Brad a long moment before bringing her focus back to Kimberly. “I had a conversation with  _ them.  _ Is that a crime? I was just saying how nice their dress was.”

Stephanie looked a little scared at this point, but she didn’t drop the smugness even an inch. There was a hint of something in her eyes like she was  _ daring  _ Kimberly to act. 

Something had clearly happened that made Stephanie think she had a new sort of power now. Kimberly had spent less time with the cheerleaders and more time with the shitty ass doodlers lately, so maybe she thought she ranked higher on the made-up social ladder now. Maybe she thought Kimberly was insecure enough in her  _ own _ social ranking that she wouldn’t cause a scene in front of so many people.

Stephanie Mitchellin was a fucking idiot.

No matter how many friends she thought she had, none of them could protect her from Kimberly’s own bare hands.

When Kimberly had punched Stephanie a few weeks ago, she had done it because she wanted Stephanie to know that she thought she was stupid. People could wear dresses, simple as that. There wasn’t anything much deeper.

But now she was mad at her sheer  _ audacity.  _ The fact that she thought she was safe to fuck with someone connected to Kimberly because what, she was set to win prom queen or some shit? She thought she could just insult one of her friends and get away with it?

Because as much as Kimberly denied it, Sparrow was her friend. On top of that, they were family now. Family  _ always  _ came before whatever made-up social bullshit that Stephanie led her life by.

Kimberly grabbed a tight hold of Stephanie’s hair and dunked her head in the punch bowl.

The girls beside them gasped and started yelling, but Kimberly wasn’t listening. She held Stephanie’s head down until she felt like the girl was struggling for breath, then pulled her out and slammed her head hard against the table.

She let her go and took a step back. Stephanie stayed bent over the table a moment, hair clinging to her neck and dripping punch onto the ground.

“YEAH!” Brad exclaimed, cupping a hand around his mouth and raising the other as a fist into the air. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Stephanie pushed herself up and turned around. There was no smug smile to be seen now, just a clearly broken nose dripping blood down her face. She wiped her hand across it, but it did nothing but smudge the blood further. 

She sent a glower Kimberly’s way. “Fucking  _ bitch.”  _ But that was  _ all _ she did. With a “ _ ugh!”  _ she turned towards the doors, leaving with a huff while ringing out her hair. The girls she’d been talking to were left standing by the table, unsure what to do with themselves.

People who had started watching the ongoings turned back to their own conversations probably faster than they should’ve, and it seemed like Kimberly had gotten things over with quick enough that she hadn’t caught a teacher’s attention.

When she turned around, Brad grinned and held up a hand. Kimberly sighed and reluctantly accepted the high five before leaving in search of Sparrow. 

She didn’t think they’d actually care much about being bullied, weirdly enough. But going by Stephanie’s expression, she had definitely managed to get into their head  _ somehow.  _

She was a little disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to see her nearly drown Mitchellin though.

  
  


Lark

The cool air outside was a sweet relief from the crowded dance hall. There were still a few people dotted around the area, so Lark looked for somewhere that he could be alone. His eyes settled on the small cluster of trees just beside the school, and he quickly made his way there.

Halfway up a tree, he noticed there was already someone else in his chosen destination, just above his head. It only took him a moment to recognise them in the dark.

“Sparrow?” Lark asked, settling on a slightly lower branch.

Lark caught the movement of Sparrow wiping at their face. “Salutations.”

“Why are you here?” 

“Why are  _ you  _ here?” Sparrow shot back quickly. 

Lark shrugged. “I felt sick.”

“Me too…” Sparrow sighed. “I just… I wasn’t sure why I thought my own personal discoveries would make other people accepting of that kind of thing. I thought I could make people better, but I don’t think I’m very good at it.”

“You can make people better.” Lark replied confidently. “You’re a lovewolf. You’re good at fixing things.”

“I don’t think I’m as good at changing people’s opinions as I want to be.”

Lark hummed. “Perhaps you just need more time?”

“Perhaps.” They didn’t sound very convinced. “I just want people to  _ listen  _ to me.”

“What is it that happened?” Lark asked.

“It is... not important. Why are  _ you  _ feeling strange?”

Lark thought hard as to  _ why  _ he felt off. Things had been weird between them and Finch ever since they had to leave their promposal competition entry early. Not  _ weird  _ weird, but Lark had felt a strange twist in his stomach that wasn’t  _ just  _ anger every time he spoke to them. It was… confusing, and Lark wasn’t sure what to think of it.

Did Finch feel annoyed that Lark had left without explaining himself? Maybe this new feeling was just a sense for a different kind of tension.

Lark leaned his head against the tree and sighed. “Why did you have to tell Finch about the promposal competition?”

Sparrow didn’t respond at all. Lark let the silence settle for a moment before he looked up. His sibling was looking back, but their confusion was written clear across their face. 

“What?” Lark asked.

“I assumed  _ you _ told them.”

“Me?” Lark said. “Finch told me it was  _ you _ .”

Sparrow just blinked and shifted the fabric of their dress. “Finch came to  _ me _ about the competition. I didn’t tell them a single thing about it before then.”

“Then why would they say- was this over text?”

Sparrow nodded and reached into the pocket of their skirt. They scrolled through their phone a bit before handing it over to Lark.

The conversation didn’t make any sense. “You never  _ mentioned  _ the competition really, but Finch definitely said to me that they heard it from you.”

“Plus,  _ they _ text about it first.” Sparrow pointed out.

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Lark insisted. “If they  _ clearly  _ didn’t learn about it from you, why didn’t they just correct me and tell me who it really was?”

“Maybe...” Sparrow began, but let the sentence drift off and shook their head. 

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe they  _ didn’t  _ know about the competition.”

“That’s stupid. If they didn’t know about the competition why would they...  _ oh.” _

“ _ Oh.”  _ Sparrow echoed.

If Finch didn’t know about the competition… that could only mean that they were asking Sparrow about an  _ earnest  _ promposal. An earnest promposal for him? Which meant…

“No  _ way.”  _ Lark decided. “That’s- that’s ridiculous!”

Sparrow giggled a little. “Finch has a crush on you~” They sing-songed.

“No they don’t!”

“They might~!” 

“They don’t!” Lark insisted.

Sparrow paused a moment. “Recount your interactions this evening.”

“Well, we- oh  _ no.” _

“Hm?”

“They asked me to  _ dance,  _ Sparrow. Is that- is that a declaration of romantic intention? How do romantic people work?”

“You  _ know  _ I have no frame of reference for them.”

Lark shook his head. “This is a betrayal of  _ everything _ the enemy code stands for.”

“What does the enemy code say?”

“Not to have a crush on your enemy!”

“Well.” Sparrow replied. “Did you get that in writing?”

“No.”

“See, there you go.” Sparrow pointed out. “You must  _ always  _ get things in writing, brother.”

“What am I supposed to  _ do?” _

Sparrow didn’t reply for a moment. Instead, they climbed down so they could sit on the same branch as Lark. “I don’t know. Do you like them like  _ that?” _

There was that awful feeling in their gut again. Alongside a fluttering in their stomach like they were going to barf. “I-! They’re my  _ enemy!” _

“Hm.” Sparrow shifted the skirt of their dress again. “You’re pretty bad at being their enemy if they have a crush on you.”

“They don’t have a crush on me!” Lark put his hands to his face. “ _ Ugh.  _ This is  _ weird.” _

Lark was just. Done. He didn’t  _ want  _ to think about that kind of thing, it was too hard. He wanted to just… escape. Nope out of this dimension, die maybe. An afterlife had to be better than whatever the heck  _ this  _ was. Maybe he could become a funky little ghost for a while, scare the shit out of some people. He’d be a great poltergeist.

Sparrow took his hand in their own. “Feeling weird on prom night squad?”

Lark smiled despite a heavy feeling still weighing on his chest. “Feeling weird on prom night squad.”

Things looked as if they were going to be okay for approximately five seconds, and then the sky cracked open.

The near black sky was split apart by rapidly growing green lines, branching out like lightning. They made no noise, but the noises around them seemed to disappear when it showed up. The rustling of leaves, the low distant chatter of people… it all lowered until all Lark could hear was his own breathing.

Then, as people began to notice, the screaming started. Lark sighed. There wasn’t even any  _ obvious  _ danger, people were just yelling for the sake of drama. It was like,  _ grow up, wow. _

The twins looked to each other and Lark knew they were thinking the same thing. It was time to fetch the others.

They released each other’s hands and jumped from the tree, sprinting back towards the school. People were already milling outside in droves by the time they got there. The two of them ended up running straight into Kimberly.

“Sparrow, what did-“ she caught sight of the sky. “Holy  _ shit.” _

“Yeah.” Lark replied.

“What the fuck  _ is  _ that?”

“We do not know!” Sparrow said. “We were hoping Terrence might!”

Speak of the devil, TJ came over to them at that very moment, Grant by his side and eyes trained on the green lines in the sky. “Wow, what the fuck  _ is  _ that?”

Sparrow sighed. “So much for that plan.”

Finch, Nick and Bee were the next to come over. Nick and Bee didn’t react much to the new neon sky feature, but Finch seemed close to the state they were in after the car ride a while back. Eyes wide, eyebrows knit close, hands with a tight grip on their jacket.

“What the  _ fuck?”  _ Finch began. “What the fuck? What the fuck  _ is  _ that?”

“Glad we’re all on the same page with that question.” Grant said.

“It’s very voidpunk.” Bee noted casually, gaze fixed on the green lights.

Finch looked momentarily taken aback. “How are you  _ not  _ freaking out?”

“I can freak out  _ and  _ appreciate the aesthetic of something, Finch. I’m a multifaceted individual.”

“What’s the plan here?” Nick asked.

Terry hummed in thought before looking to Finch and Bee. “Are you two on board or are you guys going to like, cry or something?”

“Consider me on board for whatever you guys are doing!” Bee replied. “Aye, aye, captain and all that jazz.”

“Finch?” He asked.

“I- uh-“ Finch seemed at a loss for words for a good while before they sobered up their expression and nodded. “Mmhm, yeah. Sure, yes. I can- I can do stuff.”

“Great.” Terry looked at the whole group in turn. “Bee, you and me are going to convince the people here to get inside and then keep them there. I’ll explain in a bit, but things might start showing up and it’ll be easier to protect people if we only have one group to protect.”

“The rest of you are going to spread out and send anyone around the place back into the hall. Kimberly and Nick, you search inside the school itself. Grant and Sparrow, you two have the school perimeter. Finch and Lark, you’ve got the forest. The two teams searching outside, convene at the football pitch and make sure you’ve got everywhere checked. Once everyone’s done, we’ll meet up at the hall to protect anyone there if we need to and to figure out what to do next.”

There were general agreements all around, but Grant added on, “Should we call the dads?”

Nick replied before TJ could say anything. “Already checked. Fucking zilch. My service keeps flicking in and out.”

“It’s fine.” Terry reassured, though it sounded like it was more for his own benefit. “Once we’re all together, we can send a small group to go find them. They might even be on their way, this sky shit probably isn’t  _ just  _ happening here.”

They all split apart and Lark didn’t bother to make sure Finch was keeping up. They seemed to manage fine, but they lagged a little behind a while before finally coming up upon Lark’s side. “You guys seem used to this.”

Lark shrugged. “Not  _ this,  _ but we’ve seen weird stuff, yes.”

“What, you’re like, some kind of scooby-doo gang?”

“Hmmm, not exactly. It’s more like accidental occurrences most of them. You recall Sibling Sparrow’s revelation to you of our numerous kidnappings?”

“Sure.”

“Well, we encountered  _ many _ a strange thing during that adventure. I’ll recount it all to you at a later date.”

Finch was silent after that, which was fine. They weren’t exactly the  _ most  _ talkative person in the world, Lark was used to long silences with them between conversations. Recently those silences felt comfortable, but  _ now  _ it was closer to the way it had felt when they first met. A deafening quiet, claustrophobic. Lark could almost  _ feel  _ how hard Finch was thinking.

The other two hadn’t arrived yet when they reached the football pitch after scoping the forest out. Lark figured it was as good a time as any to start explaining things to Finch. Before he could, the ground began to shake. They both stumbled, remaining upright with heavy struggle. The earth split near Lark’s feet, quickly cutting the field in half and branching out. Like the sky above, the lines in the Earth glew a toxic bright green. It almost hurt to look at too long, Lark had to squint his eyes.

The earth began to shake further as the ground around them began to pull apart and buckle. Lark took a few hasty steps backwards.

The lines were widening far apart now, but Lark couldn’t tell how deep the crevices went. All he could see was light.

“Lark!” It was Sparrow, at the other end of the pitch. Out of danger. 

He didn’t hesitate, he just started running. The cracks were growing fast, keeping up with him no matter how hard he ran. He was close now. Once he was with Sparrow, he’d be safe, he was sure of it.

“Shit!” Lark stopped and spun around to find why Finch had yelled. A large crack in the earth had widened up in front of them, while the earth behind them had buckled up to form a fragmented steep slope. It continued swelling up, like a wave growing in the ocean, and Finch was clearly struggling to keep their grip. Their hand pulled free some grass, and attempted to find its grip again only to grasp at loose dirt. Their feet kept slipping, and they looked to Lark with an expression of pure unadulterated teror. 

Both of them knew Finch was going to fall.

Lark ran the short distance back to the widening split in the earth, the ground his side thankfully flat. They knelt down and reached out their hands. Somehow the ground he was on had managed to elevate a little above Finch’s side, they’d have to make it upwards somehow.

“Jump.” Lark said. 

Finch shook their head.

“Jump. I’ll catch you, I promise.”

Finch did nothing but look at him for a moment, and each second they hesitated, the crack widened. Finally, they took a few steps back and Lark steeled himself.

Finch ran forward. Three steps, one after the other. Then they leaped, hands outstretched,  _ trusting  _ Lark to catch them.

And didn’t make it.

Their fingertips grazed past each other with barely a whisper, and Finch fell. Lark only saw them for a second after that, eyes wide and full of nothing but shock, before they disappeared into the green light.

Before Lark had time to process things, the earth under him began to shift again. They slipped backwards, sliding down quickly towards a new split forming behind him. Before he could fall in, he pushed off the ground under him and leaped across to the other side. It wasn’t too far a jump, but he still only managed to  _ just _ grab the ledge with his hands. The dirt under his grip came loose and he was left holding on by one hand. His arm felt like it was burning.

Almost as soon as his hand fell loose though, it was grabbed by another. Lark looked up to see his sibling just as the other hand fell. Sparrow was clearly struggling to keep a hold of Lark, and the only reason they weren’t falling in  _ with _ him was because Grant came up behind them and held them tight by the waist, eyes closed tight in concentration.

“Give me your other hand!” Sparrow exclaimed.

Lark looked down into the light. There was no guarantee that the light from this crack would bring him to the same place as Finch, or that he wouldn’t just die instantly if he fell… but it was worth a try, right? Lark was meant to be a warrior, he was meant to protect people. What kind of hero would he be if he left Finch alone, wherever they were, without someone familiar with fantasy bullshit to help them? 

“Lark!”

Lark felt like he knew the magic beneath him, and he could sense its intentions very vaguely. He knew, in his guts somehow, that this wouldn’t be like the other recent dimensional adventures lately. This was going to be a lot more permanent, a lot harder to figure out. If he let go, it could just be him and Finch against whatever sat waiting on the other side. Or him alone. And that was if he didn’t die from whatever this magic was upon falling into it.

Still, he had to. Finch may have been his enemy, but they were also his friend. Lark was sure he’d be fine anyway. They’d both be back in no time.

He looked up at Sparrow, and knew they knew everything he knew. They slowly shook their head, opening their mouth to say something in protest. Lark spoke first. 

“You know this is something I must do. Do not fear for my safety, I  _ will  _ see you again.”

And he let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and they’re both dead, the end. rip!
> 
> rip to finch and kim fans but brad is my favourite oc. YES he is the football player nick saw kimberly lift once at a party and had a bi meltdown over
> 
> um chile anyway. next chapter: sparrow is pretty sad folks


	25. none of your fucking beeswax, quinton, i’m going on a big mission with the boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was meant to be a sparrow centric chapter but then nick said *grabby hands* also someone take kimberly away from me she needs to stop being centric to every second scene
> 
> ALSO DNDADS REALLY SAID ‘THEY/THEM MOTHERFUCKER CALLED FINCH’? JENNA IM SUEING YOU I’M SORRY
> 
> I had to quit nanowrimo for ‘hhhh big bad depression mental health breakdown go brrrrrrr’ so no nice 50,000 words but I plan to do some writing during christmas break to destress at least :’)

The Prom Aftermath 

Sparrow 

Sparrow lunged forward, attempting to grab any part of Lark to keep a hold of him. They caught nothing but air, forced to watch Lark slowly disappear into the light. He didn’t even look sad about it.

They tried to jump in after him, but Grant held them close and kept a tight grip as he moved them both backwards. Sparrow struggled and pushed and punched all he could, but Grant didn’t even flinch. He refused to let go. He held Sparrow in his arms with little effort and crossed the football field as quickly as possible. He didn’t need to hurry. Behind them, the ground was already easing back to normal, cracks and crevices slowly disappearing completely.

Sparrow gave in, collapsing again their friend and turning inwards to curl up against his chest. Grant knelt down once they were off the grass, and they stayed like that for a while. Grant pressed one arm hard into their back, while the other hand kept a firm grip on the back of their neck. He rested his head on Sparrow’s, his whole body almost completely encasing them. 

At some point Grant reached for his phone and started talking to someone. Phone signals must have stabilised again then. Sparrow didn’t listen to the conversation. They didn’t care.

Lark and Sparrow were a package deal, two halves of the same soul. What if Lark was gone forever? How could Sparrow exist without an entire part of themself?

Sparrow didn’t get torn up over much. They had gone through kidnappings and near death experiences with no problem, but without Lark they didn’t know what to do. They felt like nothing without him. They were mostly numb, hopeless, but there was a fire deep in their chest starting to light. A spark of anger at their core, and for once it was _because_ of their brother. He had just… left them. Sparrow understood, of course they understood. Finch needed someone to protect them. But he hadn’t even _hesitated._ He didn’t need more than a second to leave them behind. A few years ago, Lark would’ve _easily_ let someone die if it meant staying by Sparrow’s side. It was a good thing, obviously. Lark caring about people other than himself was great. But it wasn’t like Sparrow could _stop_ feeling betrayed about it, no matter how guilty they were over feeling that way.

Sparrow continued ignoring conversations once more people arrived. Grant explained it all anyway. After a few minutes, they pulled away from the hug and slowly made their way back across the football field. They could feel the eyes of everybody on them. 

The field had recovered completely. There wasn’t even a speck of dirt out of place to how it had been before. Like nothing ever even happened.

They found the spot Lark had fallen through, it was hard to tell, of course, but they were sure they had the right place. Sparrow placed their hand on the ground and _searched_ for Lark. They remembered how it had felt to find him before, back in the spooky scary death dimension, and attempted to rekindle whatever magic that was. No matter the willpower they fuelled their intentions with, nothing happened. All their hand touched was dirt, nobody took a hold of it. Their brother was lost, and Sparrow didn’t know how they were going to get him back. 

When they’d been separated before, Sparrow hadn’t panicked, but they were now. It felt different now. They were useless.

At some point someone settled beside them, Sparrow didn’t look to see who it was.

“So, uh, TJ said to tell you that your parents are on the way.” Kimberly said.

Sparrow didn’t reply, they just turned and threw themself at her, pulling her tight into a hug. They felt her freeze beneath them for a moment before she, very awkwardly, placed a hand on the small of their back. She wasn’t great at hugging, but she was warm and sturdy and _safe._

Sparrow didn’t have much of a concept of how much time had passed by. They were there a while though, they were pretty sure. Eventually, Grant came over and took them from Kimberly, carrying them all the way to the parking lot. They were half-aware of the sheer pandemonium the place had become. The lights in the sky had long since disappeared, but people were still panicking. Cars were backed bumper to bumper of kids or parents trying to get the hell out. Sparrow wasn’t sure where they thought they were going. If something was happening to this world as a whole, nowhere would ever truly be safer than anywhere else.

There were a lot of hugs from both their parents once they reached the car, and as much as Sparrow appreciated it, they didn’t really care much. Their mother sat herself in the driver seat of the car while their father opted to stay in the back seat with Sparrow, holding them tight and crying into their hair. Their father was the world’s _biggest_ crier, but they didn’t mind.

They themself didn’t cry. They just felt lost and they needed to find their compass again.

They needed Lark.

* * *

Nick 

Henry had stopped crying at last, but that only opened up the opportunity to him for an argument with Finch’s mom, Delphine. Nick had never met any of Finch’s parents before, but he gathered they were just a gaggle of nerds pretty quickly. Mostly because he regarded anyone that wasn’t his dad or someone more suited to the jock spectrum like Darryl as a nerd. He was pretty sure he was right though, Finch’s dad was wearing a sweater vest after all. 

Tala was trying to pull Delphine out of the argument, and Nick was sure Mercedes would be in the same role on Team Henry were she not upstairs with Sparrow. It looked like Tala was getting through to them both for a moment, before Darryl decided to take to Henry’s defence and stir everything up again. 

Finch’s dad, Rommel, however, was checking his phone every few minutes. He looked away disappointed each time, so Nick figured he was hoping to see a text from Finch. Samantha seemed to notice the same thing, and started a quiet conversation with him. 

Carol just looked very disappointed with everyone involved in the argument, and Nick was sure she’d be stepping in once they continued not making progress after a while. Kimberly was sitting over with her mom and younger sister, while the rest of the kids were standing in a group in the Oak-Garcia kitchen. 

His dad was beside him, and Ron was beside his dad. Predictably, Ron was watching Samantha as she talked, completely enthralled, whereas his dad was looking somewhere Nick didn’t quite expect. Bee was standing near Finch’s parents, beside her mom and older sibling. His dad hadn’t looked at anyone _but_ Bee’s mom for a while now, even if he was being covert about it.

“You got beef with her?” Nick asked as lowkey as he could manage.

His dad blinked a moment like he was breaking out of a trance, before he turned to Nick. “What? No way, man. Don’t you know who that _is?”_

Nick took a long hard look at her, but shook his head and looked away. “Uh… Bee’s mom?”

“Oh damn, dude. I’ve _failed_ you, I can’t believe this.”

Nick felt a pang in his chest. His dad had _said_ he was disappointed in himself, but Nick still felt bad that he didn’t know something his dad thought he should. He… he knew he should’ve been over these kinds of feelings by now. Especially about something so small and insignificant. But still, that familiar guilt crept up into him and he momentarily considered playing it off as a joke and pretending to know who she was.

His dad continued. “That’s _Bonnie Bythesea._ She does this irish folktronica stuff? Was at her peak when I was just starting to do music on the profesh. She’s like, the queen of niche music, dude.”

Nick felt especially bad now. This was obviously a musician his dad cared a lot about, maybe was even inspired to get into more niche genres by? And yet Nick had never even heard of her. She didn’t even sound _slightly_ familiar. Had he just not listened to his dad well enough? Or had his dad assumed he wouldn’t care? 

Nick brushed those feelings aside, as was the Close family tradition. He had a more important mission to focus on, it would probably be good to get his dad’s attention off him. Keeping him focused on Bonnie was probably a solid idea. 

“You should talk to her.” Nick suggested.

His dad looked halfway intrigued by his proposition, then shook his head. “Nuh-uh, dude. I gotta get in the zone.”

Nick made a point of scrunching his eyebrows together so his dad would know he was _questioning_ what that meant. “The zone?”

“Yeah, man. I’ve gotta make some sort of killer plan once these guys stop arguing,” his dad said, “It’s hard being the brains of the group.”

“Right.” Nick replied, not quite sure the dads even had a single brain cell between the four of them. “Do you _have_ a plan?”

“Not really but like, it’ll come to me when it needs to.”

“Sure.” Nick said, before catching sight of Grant waving him over. He supposed his dad was distracted enough for him to dip if he really _was_ trying to get in ‘The Zone’. “Brb, dad.” 

Obviously, he said the letters aloud. But like, in a totally cool and ironic way.

His dad just nodded and Nick headed over to the kitchen to join the boys. Bee and Kimberly quickly joined the huddle too.

“Obviously me and Sparrow are the only ones who know anything about crossing dimensions,” TJ began, “but the dads won’t let us do anything if we ask to help out.”

Paeden laughed a little. “Well maybe not _you_ guys, but some of us are a little more mature and trusted with that kind of responsibility.”

Kim crossed her arms. “What are you, like, eight?”

Before Paeden had the chance to correct her, Grant added. “No offence, Paeden, but the only reason you were allowed to stick with the dads half the time was because they always forgot about you being there until it was too late to turn back.”

Paeden put his hands on his hips like a very disgruntled middle-aged white woman. “You should have some respect for your elders.”

“ _Anyway.”_ TJ cut in. “We’re going to go get them ourselves.”

Nick wondered a moment if it was an especially reasonable plan to go off without the dads, but figured he didn’t care very much. What was the alternative — stay home while their dads failed to do anything useful? Not poggers.

_“Hell yeah…”_ Paeden replied, punching a fist into an open hand.

Grant and TJ exchanged a worried look, before Grant put a hand on Paeden's shoulder. “Actually... we were thinking you could be homebase, man. We need a good fighter from our team _here_ in case any more monsters show up. You _know_ the dads can’t do shit without your help. They need you more than us.”

Paeden nodded. “Alright, alright… I see what you’re laying down. Good ol’ Paeden’s gotta be your star player while you guys scout out, I get it.”

“We knew you would.” TJ replied, with a soft smile. 

“How’re we getting wherever they are?” Nick asked.

“And how are we going to find them?” Grant added.

TJ frowned a little. “I was just… thinking we try out the location of the original portal? It was made by the o-dads, it might’ve been strong enough that there could be some residual magic left there?”

“You guys need a lift?” Kimberly asked.

“That _would_ be helpful,” Terry replied, “but just a lift. No one that hasn’t been another realm is coming.”

“I’ve been to another realm.” She pointed out.

“No one that hasn’t been on the Faerun-kidnapping-soccer-trip is coming.” He amended.

That seemed to satisfy her. “Wasn’t like I was planning on it. _Fuck_ other realm bullshit, you guys can handle this one.”

Bee spoke up. “So, _all_ of you have been to another dimension before?”

“Yep.” Nick replied.

“Has Finch?”

“Not Finch.” Terry replied.

Nick nodded. “Only lost their dimensional travel virginity today.”

Kimberly wrinkled her nose at that. “Gross.”

Bee nodded along, before she stilled and looked around at them all. Her eyes narrowed. “If you come back _without_ Finch, I _will_ kill all of you.”

Nick was sure that she meant it.

TJ went to grab Sparrow. He’d have to convince Mercedes to leave him alone with them, and parents tended to like him the most. Nick, however, got to work on slashing the tires of their parents’ cars. No one had _told_ him to, but they needed to keep the old folks from following them and hey, give a boy a knife…

The more distance they could keep between them, the more time they had to figure shit out. Nick was pretty proud of himself for having that kind of initiative. 

It was just him and Kimberly outside right now, Grant not wanting to draw suspicion by having _all_ of them missing until they were ready to go. 

“You sure you don’t want to come?” Nick asked. “I know we said some bullshit about no non-OG Doodlers allowed, but I’m pretty sure the others would be on board with letting you come with.”

Nick leaned back on the bonnet of her truck where she had sat herself. He looked back and up at her, but she wasn’t looking anywhere near him.

“I’m good.” She replied. “Who knows how long it’ll take you guys to find them. I don’t want to leave my mom, y’know?”

Nick wondered, briefly, what it felt like to be so assured in your importance to someone. To your parent.

“Sure. Yeah.”

Terry arrived a little while later with Sparrow in tow, still in their prom dress, but with a bag on their back. Earlier on they had been pretty out of it, but they seemed more focused now. Nick guessed that having the mission of rescuing their brother to focus on was helpful, it seemed to have filled them with new vigor.

The two of them came around from the back of the house, TJ’s having had to sneak Sparrow out their bedroom window to avoid moving past the parents. While Terry sent a text to Grant, Nick struck up a conversation with Sparrow.

“You ready to do this, dude?”

Sparrow nodded their head almost violently. “Getting Lark back is a necessity, and _I_ am the most well equipped to do so.”

Nick wasn’t sure what Sparrow’s brother-finding qualifications were exactly, but he _was_ pretty sure that the chicklet could break a mountain in half with sheer determination if it would help keep Lark safe.

Grant left the house through the front door and came towards the group. “Alright, let’s fucking _go_ before they notice we’re not there.”

TJ took shotgun so he could give Kimberly directions, while the rest of them piled into the backseat.

Grant leaned forward to look between the two up front. “Can we stop by my house on the way? The rest of you can manage, but I’d like to have my axe with me.”

TJ looked conflicted but Nick chimed in. “I slashed the tires of the other cars. We don’t have to worry about the narc squad for a little while at least.”

“You just called your dad a narc, dude.” Grant pointed out.

Nick realised he was right and sent him a glare. “I didn’t _say_ shit _,_ and you can’t _prove_ shit.”

The sound of Kimberly’s truck starting up was enough to get the parents’ attention apparently. By the time Kimberly backed up and drove past the gates, Darryl was already out the front door, Henry close behind him.

Their phones rang one by one along the journey. Nick liked the image of the dads standing in a little circle as they each tried to reach one of the boys.

Grant was the first to get a call. He didn’t even look at the screen, simply rejecting it as soon as he got it. TJ paused when his phone buzzed, but rejected it too almost immediately. Sparrow just let theirs ring out.

When Nick’s rang, they all looked at him expectantly. Glenn was the dad least likely to kick up a fuss, and Nick was the kid most likely to pick up the phone.

So, sue him, he was predictable. Nick answered the call.

He was met with _several_ voices.

“Oh, hi! Hey, Nicholas. Do you want to-“

“Hey, Nick, kiddo! Are the others with you still-”

“- tell us what you guys are up to?”

“- with the others? I know you’re a cool dude and all, but you’ve got us a little worried, you know?”

“I thought… Grant was Glenn’s son?”

His dad’s voice cut through. “Alright, you guys have lost loudspeaker privileges. Fuck off a second.”

Henry sighed audibly. “Gl-“

There was a moment of muffled noise after they were taken off speaker, and then, “Hey, dude.”

Nick smiled reflexively. “Hey, dad.”

“So… whatcha up to?”

“Oh, you know,” Nick replied, “Boys night.”

“Uh huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t invite me? Pretty rude of you if you ask- I’m getting to it, Henry! _Jesus_. - if you ask me.” There was a short pause. “Look, you guys can’t go after Lark and… whoever the other one was.”

“Oh, whoops.” Nick said. “Should’ve told me before, dude. We’re already on the way, so.”

“No offence but like, how are you guys going to do anything?”

“I don’t know, we’ll figure it out. Quicker than you will anyway. How’d you like those busted ass tires? Pretty metal of me to do, admit it.”

“I mean, it _was_ pretty metal.”

There was some loud enough shouting from Henry and Darryl that the phone managed to pick it up and kill Nick’s ears.

“I mean, _uh_ , stop?” Glenn amended. 

“Nah.”

“Well, guess I tried.”

There was more yelling and some muffled movement before another voice came to the phone. “Hi there, Nick! This is Henry Oak speaking, you know, your dad’s friend! And-“

“I know who you are, _narc_. Pass the phone back.”

“Well, maybe just _consider-_ “

“I mean, you do you, but if you don’t pass it back I’m just going to hang up and hand my phone to your kid so they can eat it.”

“I- uh... _eat_ it?”

“Well, lay a big ol’ chomp on it at least. You’re down, right, dude?”

Nick looked to Sparrow, who nodded.

“Sparrow says they’re down.”

Henry’s voice perked up. “Can I speak to them? Just for a-“

“No.”

“Oh, well, I- well… alrighty then! Here you go, Glenn.”

It took a second, but his dad got ahold of the phone again. “Wassup?”

Nick sighed. “Your friends are a bunch of _narcs,_ man.”

His dad chuckled a little. “ _Right?”_

There was a long pause, before Nick spoke quietly. “You know I’m not turning around, right?”

“ _Yeah_ , I… if you’re not turning around when I say so, then I figure you’re pretty dead set on this.”

“Right.”

“And us Close boys can be stubborn. I know I won’t be able to convince you.”

“True shit.”

“So, just… I mean, still think about, not doing that stupid-ass shit? But if you won’t do that, just, uh, take care of yourself, okay?”

“Gotcha, don’t worry, dad.” Nick replied. “We’ll be fine, see you soon.”

“Right… yeah, definitely. Just, uh- I love you, Nick, okay?”

He smiled. “Yeah, okay. I love you, dad.”

“And-“

Nick hung up.

It was a little underwhelming arriving at the portal site. There wasn’t any cool light show like last time, it was just a simple empty dirt road.

“You sure this is the right place?” Kimberly asked.

TJ nodded. “Positive. We should check it out.”

Kimberly got out with them as Terry went about his search, the headlights of Kim’s jeep dimly lighting up the area. She and Nick leaned against the jeep watching him, while Grant and Sparrow stuck by his side. Grant kept the axe they picked up along the way tight in his grip. Nick knew TJ was trying to feel around for traces of magic, but without anything visible, it just looked like he was flailing his arms about in the air.

“He’s like a headless chicken.” Kimberly commented.

Nick laughed. Grant and TJ sent piercing looks his way that quickly reminded him that they were in a pretty Serious Situation™️ right now. He kept his voice low. “Looks like he’s trying to swim or some shit.”

Kimberly surprised him by letting out a short laugh. “For real. Magic is dumb as fuck.”

Nick didn’t really agree with her, but he nodded anyway because as much as he was completely over his momentary crush on her from way back, sometimes you just had to agree with pretty girls on these kinds of insignificant things. “Super dumb.”

After longer than they really needed to wait, TJ announced his defeat with an audible groan and a pinching of the bridge of his nose. “This is stupid, I’m never going to find it. We should just… we should go. I guess. I’m sorry.”

Grant started trying to reassure him, but Nick’s eyes were on Sparrow instead. They had left Terry’s side, a few steps away from him now, their hand pressed flat in the air like it had met an invisible wall.

Nick left Kimberly to sidle up next to his good bird bro. “You find something?”

“I didn’t find anything.” Sparrow said, too distantly for someone whose presence always seemed to demand attention. “It found me.”

Well, _that_ sounded wack as shit, but ‘wack as shit’ was pretty on par for any of the Oak-Garcias on a normal day really. “What does _that_ mean?”

“I’ve heard _it_ before, back in Faerun, but I try not to listen or think about it at all because I think father doesn’t like it very much.” Sparrow said. They were still too distant. Voice hushed and weak, eyes glazed over. “But I think if I listen to it now, I can break the universe. Does that make sense?”

“Nope, not really.” Nick shrugged. “Is breaking the universe a super _good_ idea?”

“It’s already pretty broken right now, Nicholas.”

“Fair.” He looked back to see they still hadn’t drawn the attention of the rest of the group. “Go for it, dude.”

Sparrow offered him a tentative smile, which Nick returned with a bright grin and a thumbs up, before their eyes turned completely white.

Sparrow took back their hands and held them together a moment until a bright pink light cracked through the gaps in their fingers. When they drew their hands apart, the undersides of both had turned entirely neon pink. It was nearly blinding in the near-dark around them. 

There was finally a “hey-“ from one of the boys behind them, but Sparrow slammed their hands into the invisible wall before another word could be said.

For a second, all Nick could see was pink, and then his body was yanked roughly forward before everything went black just as quickly as the world had turned pink. 

In the split second before he slipped into unconsciousness, Nick only managed to think a singular thought:

_“This is going to be fucking sick.”_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Lark wakes up to an unfamiliar face who finds HIS face all TOO familiar


	26. What the fuck... Is this allowed? What the fuck, is that allowed??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lark meets the pointed end of a knife, Finch can’t seem to find a permanent coping mechanism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay okay SO. Important CONTENT WARNING info ig! This faerun arc is 1) set the shitty fantasy realm you know and love - a violent place, and 2) involves teenagers being the main cast. so obviously? you’re going to see a lot of violence against children. I will still put content warning for specifics each chapter and probably won’t go CRAZY describing their injuries but that’s just a word of warning. Assume any violence described in content warnings MAY apply to the children. If there’s ever a scene you can’t get through because of certain content? Hit me up in the comments and I’ll supply you with a sexy bulletpoint list of everything you need to take from that scene so you don’t have to push through it! that’s all, folks 
> 
> Can you believe I intended this chapter to be 5k AND i moved the end point to earlier in the story than I originally planned to? 8k,,, disgusting >:( I lack scope on how many words things will be
> 
> also? hey... let’s just ignore the events of recent episodes, shall we? 😌✨
> 
> CW: cult imagery (sacrifices, being unable to leave, facist ideals of perfectionism), fantasy racism (against humans), mentions of slavery, blood, blades, corpses, vomiting, threats made with knives, violence //it’s not actually AS bad as it sounds. maybe? am i a good person to judge that. sorry if I missed anything!!

???

Lark

Lark woke up as groggy as he did when he was pulled into faerun so long ago. Back then, he and Sparrow had woken up half-way to Neverwinter and in chains. It took them about five minutes to free themselves once they reached the city, and about five more minutes to convince the city officials that they were emissaries of their local eldritch god. They never expected just  _ how  _ true that would end up being.

Waking up now had him open his eyes to a dark room. He could feel chains digging tight into his arms and chest, and around his ankles. Too tight to do anything, no sibling by his side. Looked like he was going to have to talk his way out of this one.

There was one pale light shining dimly ahead of him. It was like a beacon in the total darkness of the room, just bright enough to catch only the extreme features of the person sitting beside it.

Their gazes met, red eyes narrowed and pointed in his direction. Light caught on a hand as it moved towards its source and picked it up. A candle, Lark realised, as it was brought closer to him.

The soft glow of the candle better bounced across the face now that they were both close to Lark. The person looked human enough, but with pointed ears and dark purple-grey skin. An elf, obviously, but a specific one. A… druw? A draw? A drow! Right, a drow. Fun. Funky. They liked cults, right? Lark could do cults. 

He opened his mouth to talk when the cool metal of a knife was pressed tight into the skin of his neck. Lark could only  _ just _ see the blade itself, but he couldn’t miss the dim blue glow it emitted. In the dark room, it joined the gold light of the candle in being hard to ignore.

“Bloody bold of you to show your face in the Underdark after you left me to die like you did.” The drow said, voice low and australian accent  _ very  _ strong.

It took Lark a moment to piece things together, but it slowly came to him bit by bit. Angry drow..., Australian accent... left to die… it was the drow Sparrow and Kimberly had left tied up back in the spooky scary death dimension.

“Oh!” Lark exclaimed. “You’re the one-“

“That you left to the mercy of the Outback? The fucking  _ Shadowfell?  _ Obvi, mate. You’re lucky I managed to get my psi points back to teleport before something got me.”

“Well,” Lark said, “Technically, I think I would be  _ more  _ lucky if you hadn’t managed to escape actually.”

The drow’s frown deepened and Lark continued.

“ _ But~!  _ That wasn’t me. That was my sibling! Sparrow. We look very alike, but we have different names and everything, you see.”

The glow of the dagger beneath his chin turned a bright emerald green and the drow’s eyes widened. “Fuck me dead…” They brought the knife away and shook it until the light turned blue again before placing it back against Lark’s skin, barely pressing against him this time. “You aren’t lying?”

“Nope!”

Once again, the glow turned green. The drow took a step or two back, looking intensely at their dagger as its glow slowly turned blue before fading completely. “Is your sibling here?”

“No.”

“And the other one?”

“Also no!”

The drow hummed. “Alright… I suppose I won’t have to kill you then.”

“Appreciate it.”

“You have a name? Or am I just gonna have to call you ankle biter?”

Lark shook his head. “Ankle biter  _ would  _ be accurate. But you may call me Lark!”

The drow hummed again, low and deep like they were thinking hard. “Tempest.”

“Alright!” He replied. “Can you let me out now? I’m here on a rescue mission.”

The drow — Tempest — snorted ungracefully. “A rescue mission? Who exactly are you trying to rescue?”

“They’re called Finch-“

“They came here with you?”

“I hope so? Mayhaps a little earlier? Or a bit further away?”

“And they’re human like you?”

“Yes.”

Tempest laughed aloud this time. “Reckon they’re well dead by now, ankle biter.”

Lark wasn’t exactly shocked, but he was a little disheartened that whatever this place was wasn’t just going to be a piece of cake. “Explain.”

“I mean, humans down here? Yous are going to end up as slaves or sacrifices. You’re only neither ‘cause  _ I  _ got a hold of ya when you dropped down. They a lady, this finch of your’s?”

“No.”

“Even worse then.”

Lark shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll find a way to locate them and get them out and then we’ll go home! Easy peasy.”

“Oh,  _ deffo.  _ Real easy peasy. Tell me that again when the Lolth lassies catch a hold of ya.”

“ _ Please.”  _ Lark smiled to convince himself of his own confidence. “My blood is part  _ god.  _ Who better to rescue someone than me? I’ve never lost a fight.”

“Oh, yeah?” Tempest grinned, pressing the dagger to his neck once again so the blue glow returned. “Never?”

Lark tried to sound as honest as possible. “Never.”

The dagger turned red and Tempest laughed. They looked as if they were going to pull away a moment, before they pressed the blade to him again. “You’re serious about the god thing?”

“ _ Obviously.” _

The red glow turned green and the drow pulled a grin full of sharp pointed teeth. “Which one?”

“The Doodler.”

For a moment, Lark swore he saw recognition in their eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Maybe Lark had imagined it, because Tempest frowned and shook their head. “I don’t… I don’t know them. Mustn’t be as high and mighty as you’re talking them up to be. But here, listen, I have a proposition for you.”

They stood to their full height, sheathing the knife by their waist. “I can get you out of the Underdark if you escort me where I want to go when we’re in the Overworld.”

Lark narrowed his eyes. “And why is it that you require my assistance?”

“Overworld folks don’t like drow much. It’ll mean less trouble if I’ve got a human with me. Plus, hey, free cannon fodder if things go south.”

“Finch is still out there.”

“And I’m  _ devo  _ for ya losing them, I am. But you need to think of things practically. They’re dead, and if you don’t get out of here, you’ll be dead too.”

“Mmhm. Haven’t died for  _ realsies _ yet, I think I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t even know where they  _ are _ .”

Lark shrugged. “Don’t care.”

“You’re deadset on this, huh?”

“Of course.” Lark said. “It’ll be easy. As long as you help me.”

Tempest shook their head, their long choppy hair swishing with them. “Nah, mate. You’re on your own. I’m not looking to pick any more fights with the people down here.”

“You don’t  _ have  _ to. I’ll do the fighting. You just help me find them and wait somewhere safe! Then all three of us will get out together.”

Tempest huffed. “You’re going to end up with your legs in the air, ankle biter. You’re no help to me in chains or sliced across a cult table.”

“I’m also no help to you when I don’t want to help you! Consider  _ that  _ mayhaps.”

Tempest did nothing but  _ stare  _ at him for a long time, before sighing. “Fine. I’ll talk to a few people, see if anyone’s heard anything. No guarantees.”

They placed the candle down on something out of sight in the darkness and reached for the wall. Their hand came back with a dark swish of fabric, and when Tempest picked the candle back up again, they had a large hood pulled over their head and a cloak draped over their shoulders.

“That seems… acceptable. Unchain me now pleeease~!”

“Yeah, nah. I don’t think so.”

“Release me!”

“You’re a kid. Kids sneak away like idiots, you don’t seem any different. Stay put here. I’ll be back soon.”

“I demand that you release me at once!”

Tempest grinned again, the light of the candle catching on their teeth. “See you later, ankle biter.”

With that, they blew out the candle and the room was plunged into complete darkness. Lark heard a door open.

“You’re not very nice!” He yelled out.

The door slammed shut.

This was the worst rescue mission ever.

* * *

Finch

Finch woke up against cold stone, throat dry and skin stinging like they were bruised all over. With a stifled groan, they slowly cracked open their eyes and tried to take a glance at the room around them.  _ Tried _ being the word of note there, since they couldn’t see a goddamn thing. It was pitch dark, the only thing they could perceive at all was breathing. Their own, starting to quicken as the panic began to set in, and the more controlled breaths of someone nearby.

Someone nearby… okay,  _ okay _ . This wasn’t a kidnapping or anything, right? It had to be… well, there was an explanation for everything and it would be fine. Maybe Lark was trying to prank them! 

How fucking hilarious.

Getting their phone out was the priority right now. They tried to sit themselves up as quietly as they could, but found with the moving of their arms came the clanking of heavy chains. They hurriedly ran their fingers over the metal bands around the wrists — super real and super locked tight. Great.

Phone. They needed to get their phone. If they got their phone they’d be fine. 

Thankfully, they found it with little effort. They took it out and held it in front of them, pressing the power button and waiting to be blinded when the screen turned on.

But it didn’t. Finch pressed the button over and over again, until they were frantically smashing at it with their thumb. The cold air felt deeper now, like it was seeping into their lungs and solidifying their breath. Desperately, they felt around the phone some more, finding easily identifiable cracks across the screen and back casing. 

Before the panic could truly set in, a voice rang out. Low, but light and melodic. Definitely not Lark, at least. 

“Not to question your techniques or anything, Ace, but what exactly are you trying to accomplish there?”

And Australian. They sounded super Australian. Did Finch  _ know  _ anyone Australian?

Not hostile though, at least at Finch’s first impression. Seemed like a good time to ignore the rising panic and focus on talking instead.

“I was - uh- I was…” Finch struggled to find their words. They couldn’t breath, their mouth was too dry, their mind had fizzled out completely. All they could manage was, “torch?”

“ _ That _ hunk of junk is a torch? What is it, magic?”

Finch didn’t reply.

“Well, hold on a sec. If your shitty torch isn’t going to help you, then I’ll cast a little something. Fucking cuffs stop any  _ real  _ magic but there’s piss all they can do about the natural gifts, you know?”

Finch didn’t know. Finch  _ really  _ didn’t know. Their breath was speeding up faster than they could control and they swore they were frozen to the ground.

“Aright, alright. Hold on, I’ve gotcha. Don’t know how yous humanfolk survive without darkvision but I guess you don’t end up in this kind of place every day, right?”

She switched up her language to something Finch didn’t recognise and spoke under her breath. In one moment they were engulfed in darkness, and in the next the room was awash with dim white light. Dark stone bounced around the glow, the only clear exit a large iron door straight ahead of them.

It took awhile to find the source, but eventually Finch’s mind caught up enough to realise it was, in fact, four separate light sources, none of which were natural. They were just… balls of light,  _ hovering  _ there in the air like it was nothing.

Oh  _ god.  _ Everything — the cracks in the sky and the shifting ground and falling into the light — it was all real, wasn’t it? This was real  _ magic,  _ like  _ that  _ magic, and now they were trapped in real chains in a real prison (dungeon? nonconsensual hotel?) with a real no way out.

They finally took a good look at the person beside them. Her skin was a darkish purple-grey all over, silver eyes sat beneath short eyelashes and smudged near-gone black eyeshadow. She pushed a loose lock of white hair behind a pointed ear with a clanking of her chains to join the collective straight-as-an-arrow head of hair that trailed down her back. Atop her head sat a large floppy sun hat, that seemed ill-fitting for both jail and being in a dark room. Her clothing seemed too bright for the place too. A pastel blue cloak and a white shirt that seemed stark against the dark stone around her.

Somehow seeing this D&D-looking motherfucker did the opposite of freak them out. Everything was so bizarre that they snapped out of their panic completely. They momentarily considered this being a dream, or a super intense LARP session they hadn’t signed up for, but none of those theories stuck. Finch knew, somehow, that there was no use denying the reality of this. The only problem then, was figuring out why they were here and what to do next. They needed useful questions.

“Are you a drow?” They asked, which was, objectively, not the  _ most  _ useful question they could have asked.

“I mean, yeah,” The drow replied, “Guess you’re from the World Above, huh?”

Okay, so  _ definitely  _ D&D-ass shit. Great. At least if it ended up being all the exact same, Finch vaguely knew that lore, even if they were a smidge rusty on the finer details.

“So… this is the Underdark, right?”

“Right. You bang your head on the way down or something?”

Their head  _ did  _ feel sore, but they didn’t remember hurting it. “I don’t know, maybe? I don’t really… way down?”

“Well, the guards told me all about it when they dragged you in here. I mean, keep it hush hush, though, of course. They’re not supposed to be talking to me, but I’ve got them pretty well enamored. I had this friend once who always told me I could talk a drider into buying a ladder, but that’s just how you’ve got to be in this profession, honestly. If you’re going to make yourself a Hook Horror biscuit, you’d best be ready to meet the clan, you know what I mean?”

Finch struggled to formulate any sort of response for a solid half-minute, before settling on a reliable, “What?”

“I just mean you’ve gotta be prepared. If I couldn’t talk my way around your average underfellow, what kind of a con-artist would I be?”

Okay, Finch managed to understand that part at least. The latched onto that certainty. “You’re a con-artist?”

“Deadset! Best around, I can dish out illusions and charms like there’s no tomorrow.” She took a moment to pause before her eyes widened like she had suddenly recalled something. “I’m Melisma, by the way. I’d shake your hand were there not a heap of chains keeping ahold of us.”

“Finch.” They replied, before adding, “They/them.”

“They/them?” She sounded more confused than judgemental so far. Promising!

“Like… my pronouns?” When she still looked confused, the continued with, “How you’d usually refer to someone as ‘she did this’ or ‘he did that’, but I use they.”

“Oh! I gotcha now.” Melisma nodded. “More freedom on the surface, huh? I guess I use she, if ya wanted that clarified.”

Finch nodded in response, mind still whirring trying to figure out what they actually wanted to know. “You said the guards said something to you?”

“Right! Right. They said you fell from a little bit skyward, blacked out on impact. They reckon Sinra’s taken you in because she thinks you’re a gift from Her Lady.”

“Sinra?”

“The Matron Mother of the local temple here.  _ Real _ piece of work. With her thinking you’re a gift from Her Lady and you being just a little kiddiewink, I reckon you’re set for being sacrificed.”

Finch took a sharp inhale of air that left them choking on nothing for a moment. They coughed until their throat cleared before looking back to Melisma. 

_ “What?” _

She shrugged. “I mean, better than being one of her slaves, probably. I’m dying too, if that helps.”

It didn’t. “You’re being killed for conning people?”

Melisma threw her head back as she laughed, hand reaching up to cover her mouth. Despite how loud her laughter was, there was nothing inelegant about it. It was as melodic as the way she talked. She had to take several deep breaths to compose herself again. “No one gives a  _ shit  _ about that kind of stuff, kid. Sinra’s got it out for me ‘cause I used to be one of her up yourself priestesses. I was born into it, but it’s not exactly my cup of tea. I’m actually pretty squeamish about blood, wouldya believe.”

“Okay… Could you- is there anyway out of here?”

Melisma hummed as she thought it over. “It wouldn’t be too tricky to get out of here if the main temple didn’t get alerted. The guards here are all second rate hired help, don’t want the leading ladies getting their hands dirty with lowly guard work. But without these chains on, there’s no real use in trying anything.”

Finch closed their eyes and leaned their head back against the stone wall. “I’m going to  _ die.” _

“Well,” Melisma replied, “I’m just glad they let me keep my hat.”

  
  


* * *

Lark

“Yeah, I found your Finch.” Tempest said. “I heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone that a human kid crash landed around town centre and was taken away by some of the Matron Mother’s guards. They’ll be in the prison opposite Lolth’s temple. Not too heavily guarded, but that’s if you can get there before they’re killed off.”

Lark nodded. “And where is it that I meet you afterwards so that we may make our escape?”

Tempest sighed, placing their candle on the table so they could fetch some parchment and ink. With a rough hand, they sketched out a crude map of the town, important features labelled. 

“The Gateways are located a little ways away from the temple. It’s not too heavily guarded, since people move through them all the time to get to other parts of the Underdark. One of these gates is a portal to the Overworld, but I don’t know what’s on the other side. The Overworld sister gateway should shift locations a little every so often and no one keeps track of where it leads.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Guess not.” Tempest shrugged. “When you get there, hang around the general crowd. Don’t make your way to the portal itself until we’re ready to go or you’ll draw suspicion.”

Lark grinned. “But drawing suspicion is half the fun!” Tempest glared his way and he quickly scrubbed the joke. “ _ Fine.  _ I’ll make this a stealth mission.”

Tempest rummaged through a few drawers around the place, collecting different small blades and finding a place for each at different points of their outfit. After that, they found some dark cloth and threw it Lark’s way. He unravelled it to find a pair of gloves, a cloak, and a smaller piece cloth. He held the smaller piece up to show Tempest. 

“What’s this?”

“Face covering. It’s for the best you cover as much as your skin as possible, humans without company draw attention you don’t need. Hide your hair as much as you can too.”

He was glad his hair was still mostly stuffed into a plait at this point. Hiding it was just a matter of making sure it was behind him before putting on the cloak and pulling up his hood. The cloak was far too big on him, trailing on the ground behind him as he walked, but Lark quickly fixed that with some creative thinking and a knife (his own knife, of course he wouldn’t go to prom without it). Tempest didn’t seem too pleased.

When they finally parted ways outside, Lark could see why Tempest was so insistent on him covering up his skin. He’d been under the effects of a Darkvision spell before, so he knew people that had it naturally, like the Drow, could only see in shades of grey. The streets outside, however, weren’t completely dark. Bioluminescent plants — moss and mushrooms and small tufts of grass — lined the streets and cast the area in bright multicolored light. He looked down, and though his shoes were barely visible beneath the cloak, he could clearly see the bright green of his laces.

The town around him was claustrophobic in the only way he found appealing. Buildings were packed tight together and jutted out as their stories grew like they were trying to collapse in on him. The streets between the houses were narrow enough to be considered alleyways, and split off into different directions seemingly at random. There wasn’t a window in sight that didn’t have heavy curtains or shutters blocking the view inside, some buildings lacked windows entirely. No one paid him any heed, all of them darting about with heads down and cloaks drawn tight, dipping into narrower passages that the light couldn’t reach. 

He could see what he presumed to be the temple in the distance. It sat far above the cluster of buildings, perched on a mound of hardened earth and rock. It was a tall fortress of stone, square and undecorated bar the entranceway. Leading up to a pair doors was a polished stone staircase that spiraled down out of view, illuminated with giant torches that held pure crimson flames. The top of the cavern was only a little higher than the temple, stalactites hanging from it and dripping water down everywhere around him. 

On a ledge a lot lower sat a grey slab of a building lit up by smaller and dimmer flaming torches. There were figures standing either side of the entrance, but Lark couldn’t see them very clearly from so far away. The prison.

He darted through the streets towards the building. Tempest told him that even though he was trying to stay unnoticed, he should stick to the lit paths to avoid danger. Lark never shied away from a fight, but they figured wasting spell slots wasn’t the  _ best  _ idea.

All the residential buildings looked the same. Dark stone after dark stone, windows covered or nonexistent, slanted roofs, moss climbing the walls. The ground was slick with water in most places, some pathways diverging to avoid stalagmites growing upwards from the ground. Lark briefly lamented not seeing any crystals around the place. His mother and Sparrow adored crystals more than he did, it would’ve been a nice gift for one of them. Caves had crystals, right? 

Like someone was listening to his thoughts, the street opened up to a small marketplace. Stalls were huddled close to each other, selling food and weaponry alike. There was one stall that caught his eyes, glittering crystals lining its front. He wondered if crystals were actually worth much when you lived underground. There was a customer there already, but when they handed the money over the counter, the owner didn’t reach for the crystals. Her hand slipped quickly beneath the stall and then darted to the customer’s free hand. Their hand closed tight around it, the product never seeing the, albeit dim, light of day before being hastily stuffed into their pocket. 

_ Ah,  _ Lark figured,  _ Fun shady stuff. _

The owner was keeping a keen eye out though, and Lark didn’t have any money on him. No way could they grab a crystal without her noticing. Before he could make a move to leave though, he caught sight of every merchant on the street making a hasty look somewhere behind him before rushing to pack up their wares and scatter. Lark looked behind him to find a trio of women in near identical dark-robes heading down the street in synchronised strides. They reached their destination before everyone was able to get away, but they clearly had no interest in the rest of the street. They headed directly to the crystal merchant, surrounding her on all sides.

“Beslin Kentlar.” One of the trio announced, stepping closer to the merchant. “You’ve yet to pay your tithe. Are you  _ so  _ arrogant that you think we wouldn’t notice? That you would defy The Temple and its Matron Mother?”

The woman started pleading, but Lark wasn’t very interested in what she had to say. All he  _ was  _ interested in was the fact that the merchant was no longer looking over their wares. As one of the trio grabbed the merchant by the collar of her shirt and threw her backwards, away from her table, Lark sprinted forward and grabbed a stone close to him before continuing on down the street.

Once he was completely away from the marketplace, he took a quick glance at his treasure. It was a simple cut emerald, clear enough to see through. A neat stone for love and healing, his mother was sure to like that. Or maybe his sibling needed the gesture more? His father was sure to be the most upset over his disappearance, now that he thought about it, perhaps  _ he _ needed the stone most. Healing and mental clarity and all that. 

Lark stuffed the gem into his pocket. He could decide later, it was time to find Finch.

There was a loud crash from the marketplace behind him that he couldn’t quite identify, and for a minute, he considered going back to pick a fight with the robed trio. Nah, it wasn’t worth his time. There might be fights up ahead that he could take part in instead, saving spell slots was still the best idea. Finch was good at fighting, they could join in too.

He continued his way through the streets, mind racing over what spells he could use in any fights he got into. This was going to be so fucking easy, Finch just had to stay alive until he got there.

  
  


* * *

Finch

The drow woman on the throne ahead of them had a similar skin tone to Melisma, though her white hair was unmarred by dirt. It shone like a halo behind her head, fanning out into soft waves. She had a tall intricate black crown adorned her head, bright red jewels embedded into the headpiece and hanging down onto her forehead. Her eyes were the same ruby red, narrowed and shining bright. A similar colour had been painted across her lips unlike any other drow Finch had seen so far on their walk here. She was wrapped in dark stiff clothing, rigid enough in some places that there had to be armour involved. She had one hand curled around a simple staff made of black wood, the only decoration being sharp talons carved into the wood that held a red orb within its grasp — pulsing with dull light.

Finch pointedly looked away from her plunging neckline.

Melisma did a short mocking curtsy when they stopped walking, grinning up at the woman. “Matron Mother Sinra. Long time, no see.”

“Belladonna.” Sinra answered, a permanent smile affixed her face. “Or is it Melisma now? Did you really think a little name change would stop us from finding you? How privileged you are that Our Lady decided to test the strength of our scouting forces instead of punishing you yourself, don’t you think?”

Melisma’s smile dropped. She opened her mouth to say something, before shutting it and bowing her head instead. “I am truly fortunate to be at Lolth’s mercy, Matron Mother.”

Sinra seemed satisfied with that tone switch and turned her head to Finch. “And a human child, how uncommon to see down here! It’s a shame to have to snuff out such a rarity so soon, you may have made a nice pet.”

She shook her head. “But one cannot deny that you are a gift from Our Lady, herself. And so, we must show our thanks to her. I apologise that your stay here was so short, but we’re rather lacking bodies at the moment, so I can’t keep you long. I’ve sent out orders for more arrests but  _ well,  _ just can’t get the staff these days, might take a while — you get it, right?”

Sinra grinned. “So let’s see here… The pretty little human or an old friend… who would Lolth be more happy to see end today?” She hummed, low but sweet and pointed a long finger at Finch.

Finch could feel sweat coming down in buckets despite how cold the room was. This was it. They were fucking dead. RIP Finch Antonio, gone but not forgotten. Maybe they could beat up Robespierre in hell for their mom. She’d appreciate that.

“Eeny.” Sinra said, then pointed to Melisma. “Meeny.”

… this was a joke, right? This stupid ass fantasy world had ‘eeny, meeny, miney, mo’? There had to be  _ better  _ ways to die, surely. They couldn’t have just gotten hit by a car or something  _ normal?  _ Fuck.

“Miney… Mo.” Their finger landed on Melisma, and Finch felt sick that their first instinct was  _ relief. _

Sinra stood up from her throne. Melisma tried to back away, but a guard pushed her forward again. There was no sign of that smiling con-artist from before, just a helpless young woman quivering on the spot, looking up wide-eyed at her superior.

Sinra stalked forward slowly, like she was  _ teasing  _ her. When she reached Melisma, she cupped her face with one long slender hand, and smiled. 

“I always like to draw first blood.” Sinra said, in a voice so silky smooth that it almost seemed  _ lustful.  _ It sent a shiver down Finch’s spine. “It is a reminder of the privilege I have been given with my position here. Do you know how  _ lucky  _ I am to be allowed to kill you instead of watching My Lady turn you into one of her beasts? Or how lucky  _ you  _ are to die with dignity on Lolth’s table instead of being punished?”

She passed her staff to one of the guards at Melisma’s side, before withdrawing a dagger, previously tucked out of sight, from a sash at her waist. Her hand moved from Melisma’s face to holding her neck. The knife thrust forward into her stomach without further hesitation. At the same time came a sudden gasp from Melisma and a self-satisfied giggle from Sinra. The Matron Mother yanked the weapon out of Melisma, blade freshly coated with her blood.

Finch’s knees fell weak, the chains around their body the only thing keeping them upright still. They didn’t even react audibly, they just… watched. All they could do was  _ look.  _ As Sinra reclaimed her staff, Melisma didn’t quiten. In the near silent room, her growing sobs and gaps echoed loud.

After just a short few moments of her pained cries, Sinra rolled her eyes and grimaced. “Oh,  _ do  _ have a little dignity.” She waved her hand at Melisma’s guards. “I’m done with her.”

Finch couldn’t take their eyes off Melisma as she was pulled away — the movement only seemed to agitate her wound more if her worsening sobs were any indication. Drops of blood followed her, smudging under her dragging feet into a trail.

Sinra turned to Finch, they could sense it but didn’t look at her until Melisma was completely out of the room. When they finally turned their head to face her, she was smiling. Red stained lips pulled into a polite expression of faux-hospitality.

She didn’t say anything to Finch. Simply stepped closer, heels clacking, until she was right in front of them. She held forth the dagger, and they winced in anticipation, but instead of stabbing Finch, she wiped the metal against their jacket until it was near clean again.

Finch couldn’t move. The metallic scent of the blood was overpowering. This was someone else’s blood  _ on  _ them. Someone who was being sent to their death. Someone who didn’t deserve to die. 

Sinra tucked her dagger back by her waist and turned to walk back to her throne, lifting a hand to dismiss her audience. Finch spoke first before anyone moved. They had been frozen, but that ice was starting to melt away for something new. For so long they had worked to divert their anger somewhere else, be rid of it. Lark had started to chip away at that progress just a little, but this was a wrecking ball. It was beginning to come back in full force. That raging destructive anger that didn’t care about what it broke. 

“Hey, what the  _ fuck _ ?” Finch said, “ Why are you - What’s  _ wrong _ with you?”

Sinra threw them a casual look over her shoulder. “Wrong? Oh, you’re mistaken, dear child. There’s nothing  _ wrong  _ with me, I am as close to perfection as a mortal can get. What’s  _ wrong  _ is everyone else. Blemishes in the world Our Lady crafted for us should be eradicated as thanks to her. This community is like a perfect statue carved by her divine hands, and people like you and Melisma are the excess that I am tasked with brushing off the table.”

Finch considered it for a moment before throwing out their response, “You’re just a sick fucking  _ bitch  _ with a superiority complex and a goddess that probably doesn’t even care about you.”

When she didn’t respond immediately, Finch thought he had her.  _ Yeah, I know enough basic ass lore to tell you Lolth’s whole deal, asshole.  _

Then she smiled again. It looked genuine. Finch went to say something else, but she got there first. Smooth as silk, she said, “ _ Hush _ now, child. I think we’re done talking for today,” and immediately Finch’s words died on their tongue.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t speak, it was that they suddenly didn’t  _ want  _ to. Staying hushed up was their only goal for a good few seconds and even when that passed… it didn’t seem worth it anymore. They didn’t need to let that anger consume them again. They would rather die without having to revert back to that. They wouldn’t let someone so awful be the person to mess up everything they tried to build.

Matron Mother Sinra made a quip about seeing them tomorrow, and Finch was led back to their cell. Chained to the wall again, plunged back into darkness with no one for company this time.

A long period passed in complete silence. Nothing but darkness, the occasional whispered talk of the guards outside. Finch was sure by the time they reached tomorrow, they’d be driven too crazy by the room to care much about dying.

They could only think about one thing. The dagger plunging into Melisma’s stomach over and over again. How it was pure chance that she died before they did. They could’ve been the one dying today. They should have. Maybe they should’ve tried to do more, fight back despite how useless that was or volunteer to die in her place Hunger Games style. Anything but  _ watch  _ like they had. Even if it had been for nothing, at least they would’ve tried to do something. What kind of coward were they for doing nothing at all?

They didn’t know how much time had passed before there came new sounds from outside the door. It took a moment to identify, but Finch eventually pieced together that there was a fight going on.

It didn’t last very long. The fighting died off outside almost as quickly as it had started, and there was a moment of near silence. Then footsteps. One after the other, towards their cell. Finch’s breath hitched, and they looked up at the door just in time to see it open, a cloaked figure standing there. They removed a mask and then lowered their hood, and there was  _ Lark,  _ face freshly cut and hands trying to wrangle the set of keys free from the door.

Finch had never been so happy to see someone in their entire life. 

Things could be weird between the two of them at times, especially recently, but Lark was…  _ not  _ a murderous cult member! He didn’t want them dead! He had keys! He unlocked the door! They almost hoped Lark felt smug about saving them, because he definitely deserved to get some satisfaction out of this.

The keys came free and Lark finally  _ looked  _ at them. Their gazes connected and he grinned in a smug sort of way that made Finch melt and see red all at once. Oh, hell yeah.  _ That  _ was a more familiar feeling, some good old fashioned normal human feelings. Not dread over seeing elf cult murder feelings. What Finch wouldn’t give to go back to panicking over asking Lark to dance right now instead of whatever  _ this  _ shitshow was.

Lark rushed forward and knelt down beside them to find the right key for their cuffs. Finch expected his hands to be warm, but they were nearly as cold as the floor beneath them. Still, it felt good to have some physical contact that wasn’t rough shoving.

Lark found the right key and the cuffs dropped to the ground with a clatter that echoed across the silent room. Without thinking, Finch grabbed ahold of Lark and pulled him into a hug. Luckily, Lark seemed to be more of a hugger than Finch expected him to be, and he returned the gesture in full force.

Finch was close to crying from sheer relief. 

They pulled away from him finally. “What the fuck is happening?”

Lark waved a hand about in the air. “Lots of cool fantasy stuff, we can catch up later! The guards here were  _ extremely  _ easy to beat up now that my magic has returned to me, but I believe that any priestesses may be much more fatal should we encounter them! But fear not! I have secured us passage to a safer location so that we may begin planning our journey home from there!”

Finch began nodding along automatically before they truly processed all of it, and Lark tried to stand up and make a move towards the door. 

Finch stayed put and grabbed ahold of Lark’s wrist. He was yanked back and turned around to see what the problem was.

“There was this woman — Melisma — they tried to kill her, but she might still be alive.”

“We don’t have time for anyone else.” Lark tried to pull Finch forward, but they let go of him again.

They weren’t even angry at that response _._ They tried their best not to be. They just knew that they had to do _something_ after not doing anything earlier _,_ even if it was useless. Even if it was nothing but a suicide mission. They could understand why Lark wouldn’t want to come, even if they were slightly bitter about it.

“ _ I’m  _ going to find her.” Finch said. “Leave if you want, I don’t care.”

Lark let out a disgruntled groan before quickly perking up again. “Okay! Rescue mission part two! Extra adventure!”

“You’re coming with?” Finch asked for clarification.

“Certainly! It sounds fun!”

In no way, shape, or form did it sound fun to Finch, but they were just glad they weren’t going in alone. They had taken their skirt off long before meeting Sinra (thank god for their habit of wearing skirts over trousers so they didn’t have to go everywhere in bright pink), but they were still worried about them wearing a suit in this place.

Lark brushed it off, assuring Finch that if people looked at the two of them, they’d probably assume Finch was his human slave so long as he kept his hood up. Somehow, Finch didn’t find that especially reassuring.

They let Lark take the lead in their stealth mission. With glowing green hands, he cast a spell over them to make it harder for other people to spot them — so magic was still real and Lark could definitely use it. Push that aside to process later. 

Avoiding wandering guards was surprisingly easy. They got to the entrance without much trouble. According to Lark, the outer guards left the doors to circle the perimeter every so often, so it was just a matter of watching through a keyhole for them to leave. They didn’t take the staircase, Lark blew another spell slot to make it so that they could scale the vertical rock face leading up to The Temple as easily as you could move across a flat horizontal surface. They moved around towards the back of the rock, out of the light of the temple and sight of those at its entrance. 

At one point, Lark had climbed a section much faster than they had and looked down on them with clear glee. He laughed. “Have you got  _ glue  _ on your feet, Friend Finch? Or is being a slowcoach an inherent part of your very nature?”

“You’re too loud, people are going to notice.” Finch pointed out. But then they grinned back. “But you won’t be laughing when I beat you to the top.”

Lark ended up winning their race by a pretty narrow margin, but it didn’t seem to matter much to either of them once they reached the top. They both ended up laughing despite nothing being particularly funny. Finch was pretty sure they had cycled through a wide variety of coping mechanisms over the last few hours and they weren’t yet quite sure where this ‘almost blissful ignorance of reality’ fell in the ranking of them.

There were actually quite a few windows carved into the stone of the temple, big enough for them both to pull themselves through. The hallways were largely empty bar the occasional sound of footsteps in the far distance, so although they were careful, their stealth ended up as more of a precaution than anything.

After about half an hour of poking their heads in different rooms, Lark took a quick glance in one and turned back to Finch. They kept their voice low. “You said light blue clothes?”

Finch nodded.

“There’s someone else in there, but I shall handle it with utmost haste!” They gave Finch a look that they guessed they were supposed to interpret as something fun. All it managed to accomplish was scare them a little. “Want to see some high level stuff?”

Finch didn’t manage to get in a reply before Lark looked around the door frame again. This didn’t feel quite like the other spells Lark had cast. His eyes darkened completely to an inky black void, depthless and terrifying. The air in the room dropped colder still, Lark’s whispered words like a language borrowed from demons.

Finch took the thump from the room and Lark’s following short laughter as a sign that whatever he had done had worked out. 

Before Finch could stop themself, they blurted out, “Did you kill them?”

Lark passed them an incredulous look which, okay  _ fair,  _ Finch  _ had  _ just asked if they had murdered someone without a smidgen of nuance. He shook his head. “Just sleeping! I don’t know  _ why  _ it’s called Eyebite when it does  _ no  _ eye biting.

“Eyebite…” Finch echoed. They didn’t know anything in depth about the spell from their rusty D&D knowledge but it  _ did  _ sound familiar. “That’s kinda high level, isn’t it?”

Lark shrugged. “When we were here before, Terrence said I shouldn’t be able to do spells like that yet, but I managed anyway!”

Finch decided not to pursue the line of questioning any further and the pair of them slipped into the room. The room, like everything in the temple bar the Matron Mother herself, was simple but imposing. Black stone polished smooth made up the entirety of the dimly lit room. It appeared nearly empty, any furniture pushed out of sight into the shadows so that Finch couldn’t see them clearly. Stone steps led up gradually to meet an altar surrounded by red candles, only half of them lit. Below the altar laid the priestess Lark had put to sleep, wooden taper having fallen from her hand, flame extinguished and left smoldering.

On the table itself was  _ her,  _ Melisma. Finch recognised her by her clothing alone, and their heart leaped in surprised relief. They could  _ fix  _ things. 

And then they looked further up her body. They couldn’t even take in what happened, all the saw was  _ red.  _ Everywhere they looked near her chest, her neck, her hands… nothing but  _ red _ .

Finch quickly looked away, hand flying to their mouth as they felt their stomach churn. It took them a moment to speak.

“Lark… will you- can you check if she’s…?”

Lark hummed in response before he crossed the room. A moment passed before he called out. “Not alive! I don’t think they started the actual ritual yet, mayhaps they were stopping her from resisting? They just slit her throat.”

Despite knowing it was a bad idea, Finch looked over at her corpse again. It was worse than they expected. The blood seemed endless, enough that it hadn’t dried yet. There was a steady drip of it from the altar to the floor. And her head was turned their way. Pale eyes staring ahead, turned glossy and lifeless. Mouth partially open. A splash of blood against her cheek. No out-of-place sun hat.

They couldn’t look away from the body, and the  _ stench  _ of blood was beginning to dominate their senses. Finch couldn’t do anything to stop it, instinctively they were beginning to heave. They dashed to the side of the room and crashed to the knees, before vomiting hard and heavy. They heaved and gagged and spit their guts out until it stopped coming up, then dry heaved a little further. They had to put a hand on the wall ahead of them to steady themselves, a sudden bout of lightheadedness threatening to send them careening into the puddle of sick below them. Their stomach clenched, their chest ached, their heart was beating so wildly out of control that Finch was sure it was trying to break their ribs. By the time they were wiping their mouth with their sleeve, their throat was too dry and burning from the acid.

Finch sat back on their heels and took a few heavy breaths. 

“Are you  _ crying _ ?” Lark asked. Like they were a  _ spectacle.  _

Finch  _ was  _ crying, of course. They were overwhelmed, and usually teared up while vomiting anyway. They couldn’t just  _ roll  _ with this anymore. This had reached a new level of certified fucked up.

But honestly? Thank God for Lark. Because they suddenly weren’t feeling sick anymore. They didn’t feel afraid or upset. Their blood was beginning to boil, and they were  _ thankful _ for it. Trying to stop that anger while  _ here  _ was a shitty idea. Without it, they might’ve just curled into a ball and given up. Sobbed until someone found them. Anger could keep them functioning a little while longer.  _ Fuck  _ Lark Oak-Garcia, the arrogant piece of shit.  _ ‘Are you crying’?  _ Asshole.

Finch didn’t reply at first, simply stood up and stayed still a while. They took a deep breath before turning back around to face Lark, making sure to keep their gaze pointedly away from Melisma. 

Lark frowned upon seeing their face, then forced their expression into a grin. “Hey, you knooooow, when we get to the Overworld I can show you lots of other cool magic! And there’s probably other neat stuff too! Maybe we can find a fantasy outfit for you!”

Finch ignored his blabbering and gestured towards the door. “Let’s get going.”

Lark looked hesitant to move, but then seemed to very rapidly make up their mind and bound towards the door. “Adventure awaits!”

Finch followed after him quickly, not wanting to stick around the room any longer than they needed to. They caught sight of one thing before they left however.  _ Her hat.  _ It  _ was  _ still here. Melisma’s giant sun hat had been tossed to the side of the room, resting almost gracefully on a chest that Finch figured they never wanted to see the contents of. They snatched it up as they passed by, sure that Melisma would rather it end up somewhere nice. Finch would find a place for it somewhere.

They nearly ran into Lark however when he came to a sudden halt.

“Wh-?” Finch looked up to see six robed drow in the hall, all facing their way. The two of them froze, like that combined with Lark’s spell from earlier would  _ somehow  _ render them invisible.

The coin dropped when one of the priestesses narrowed her eyes at the pair. Lark broke the tension first.

He smiled at the six of them and offered a simple, “Greetings!”

All six of them drew their weapons.

“Oh, well,” Lark shrugged. “Finch, I trust you’re prepared to fight?”

“Definitely not.”

_ “Perfect!” _

Finch was pretty sure of it this time: they were going to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imma be fucking around with how dnd magic works a lot here, playing fast and loose with the rules. most characters wil probably be pretty normal? but lark’s magic is going to get wacked up sometimes, so sorry to any rule lawyers out there who that hurts in the future
> 
> also apologies to any australians out there, I promise i’ll make another collection of dnd bitches stereotypical irish later somehow so we’re even fjdjsksk


	27. I've got the power of god AND anime on my side!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: continuation of that cult imagery, reilgious imagery, knife violence, continued themes of facism including ideas of purity and discussed use of propaganda
> 
> I'm sorry for how meta the talk in this one gets fksjfjdkd
> 
> Also! Sometime after the last chapter this fic hit 2k hits!! That isn't very much in a typical fandom, but this is such a small fanbase that hitting that milestone is WILD to me. Thank you for every kudos and every comment ever left on this fic, I appreciate all of them so much. MWAH!

Finch - The Underdark

"Great fight back there, Lark. You really showed them.”

There were two guards holding their chains, but they seemed pretty content with letting the two of them talk freely. Lark, having recently just come out of being knocked unconscious, glared at Finch. “That was intentional.”

“Being knocked out was intentional?”

“Well, but of course! I am Lark Oak-Garcia! I am impossible to defeat. There is no opponent worthy of facing down  _ my  _ power.”

“I beat you in a fight before.”

“I let you win.” Lark shot back too quickly.

“Right.” Finch let their tone of disbelief truly stew a moment before continuing, “ _ Anyway,  _ I’ve played like, Dungeons and Dragons games that have these people in them before, right?”

“Did it say anything about them being Australian?”

“No, it felt more like a racism thing for the most part.”

“Makes sense.”

Finch was pretty confident at this point that at least most of the stuff they knew was partially true, but they couldn’t expect to know everything word for word. That was fine, they just needed the basics anyway. They nodded. “Yeah so, these Lolth cultists. They’ve basically been conditioned to kill each other for status and disbelievers for disbelieving so I think, fundamentally, we’re kinda fucked here.”

“Well, I’d rather die loud than go quietly. I’m going to annoy the everfudging dickshit out of this cult leader when she gets here.”

Finch smiled a little. “Shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

“If you want it that way.”

The doors to the throne room swung open and the guards roughly shoved the two of them to shut them up.

Sinra stepped through the doors with exaggerated grace. Finch expected to hear the clacking of heels, but apparently the Matron Mother’s taste in shoes fell more towards flats. She made her way to the throne, a high-backed chair carved from black wood and cushioned with red material, and let herself fall into it. One hand curled around her staff while the other tapped its fingers against the arm of the throne. She looked more impatient than anything,

Sinra pouted. “You kids understand that being Matron Mother is a hard job, right? Tell me, what is a community  _ built  _ upon?” Neither of them spoke up, so she prompted further. “That wasn’t words of the rhetorical sense. Speak up.”

“Trust.” Finch said.

At the same time, Lark said, “Fear.”

The both looked at each other immediately — Lark confused, Finch disturbed.

“A nice attempt, but neither of you quite hit the mark. Trust in the system and Our Lady, Fear of those above you and of being imperfect — these are good motives, but a community is  _ built  _ on sacrifices. Whether it be your money, or your morality  _ or _ ,” she gestured at the two of them, “your life. I’ve had to make sacrifices just like everyone else, more than most. I know you’re human, but is this getting through to you?”

“Not really.” Lark replied quickly.

Sinra smiled wider, but it looked strained. “Everyone must do their part, and sometimes that role is simply dying. Perfection must be a  _ common  _ goal.  _ Purity  _ is how we survive… Do you know much of the city we’re in?”

Neither of them answered, and she continued. “There are many cities in the Underdark with drow majority populations, but Echo Cavern is the only place to have cut off more... imperfect influences completely. We have some humans working for us, of course, but every  _ citizen _ of this place is a drow, or something of the sort. Monsters are defeated in moments, impure races aren't allowed to pass through our gates. The only danger to the people here comes in the form of plants, or the occasional drider - so is Lolth's will. We are a safe haven for those with traditional values. When everyone agrees, when all the mistakes are weeded out,  _ this  _ is how the perfect community is built. Through sacrifice we thrive."

" _ Wow _ ," Lark said, "You kill people, okay. Just say that. I'm bored. This is a shitty cult."

Finch nodded. "Yeah, I mean, where's the pizazz about it?"

Lark held out his hands a little, chains rattling as they moved. A guard drew a short sword close to his neck, but he paid it no attention. "As someone who was once a cult figurehead-"

"You were what?" Finch asked. They were in the middle of something right now, but this was news. Or was it really? The twins had mentioned cult stuff before, for sure. Finding out that they weren't joking wasn't actually the shocking revelation that it should've been.

"Don't interrupt. Anyway, as someone who was once a cult figurehead, I feel like you could have more fun with things. I mean, Neverwinter had a  _ fighting pit.  _ That's cool, that's fun! I enjoyed that very much before father ruined things. Your goal is to keep everything the same forever? Awful."

"Isn't chaos something Lolth likes?" Finch chimed in. "Isn't she just pitting you guys against each other for fun? She probably hates this place."

"It's super boring."

"Totally." Finch nodded again. "Do you even realise that Your Lady doesn't care about you?"

Sinra sighed and waved her hand at the guards. "Give us some privacy. I can handle a pair of children if they decide to get rowdy."

The guards seemed hesitant to move, but after a slight pause, they bowed their heads and let their end of the chains drop to the ground before leaving. The door shut with a heavy bang.

An even heavier silence hung over the room.

Sinra gave them a small smile. "Are you done now? Have you finished? Is this a stall for time or do you think I'm blind? I'm well aware that Lolth does not care for me as an individual. She didn't protect the last Matron Mother from  _ me,  _ why would she protect me from anyone else? I'm not here for My Lady's affections, I fought my way up to gain her respect. I carry out her wishes as a  _ gift  _ to her, for the world she forged for us. You think I do not  _ know  _ that she wishes to control us simply to feel powerful and amused? That she keeps us from the surface not for our safety, but so her influence will not waver? Perhaps younger priestesses believe it, other members of the wide community certainly, but you cannot get to where I am without  _ understanding.  _ As Matron Mother, I get a small taste of what Our Lady has - that is my reward. "

"This idea of Lolth doing what is 'best' for us, this is just how control works. It's a beautiful thing. I do control people somewhat with force, but that is simply one part of a larger picture. Shows of power promote the idea of an image. The image of perfection and imperfection. The idea that imperfection is so disgusting, it must be fought."

"When you control what is ideal and perfect, then everyone  _ wants  _ to be what  _ you  _ want them to be. And when the idea of perfection is widely spread, then people hide away their imperfections so they don't seem different. It's a self-sustaining system. When you realise the idea of perfection is simply a  _ tool,  _ then you are at the point that you understand why it must remain. And for your gained knowledge, you are rewarded with power."

"My mother," Lark began, "doesn't like me wearing white because it shows the dirt better."

Sinra seemed momentarily taken aback at being spoken to, but quickly recovered. "Easier to find."

Finch piped in. "Harder to remove. Easier for everyone else to see."

"It'll hurt you more." Lark added.

Finch nodded. "When people are different, their different opinions can come and go. But people are going to  _ notice  _ difference here."

Sinra continued smiling. "Those differences can be eradicated like everything else."

"Or you trying to kill off those ideas will just make them stronger."

Lark groaned. "Why are we even talking? Can't you just try to kill us already?"

"We're  _ talking _ because it's so hard to talk to people nowadays. Give me a break." Sinra leaned back in her throne, crossing one long leg over the other. "It's not like you can do anything with what I say, you're going to die."

"You're venting?" Finch clarified.

Lark laughed a little. "All your vent companions being nearly-dead people is sad. Sad meaning pathetic. I do not have any empathy for you, it is not a sad thing in that way."

Sinra hummed. "Well, you were right about  _ one  _ thing, you know. I haven't been having fun with things as much as I should have. Killing people on the ritual table… it's  _ nice,  _ it's necessary, but it's a tad repetitive, no? So I'm letting you go."

Lark crossed his arms, Finch sensed it was a struggle with the heavy chains threatening to drag his arms back down again. "Why?"

Sinra used her staff to pull herself to her feet, moving in one swift motion. She took a few steps towards them, but they both stood their ground.

"A hunt sounds more sporting, does it not? I let you go to the Overworld like I'm sure suits your interests, and I wait until morning so my hunting party is at its biggest disadvantage. Does that sound  _ fair?  _ Is that less boring for you?"

Finch pretty rightfully assumed that they were being mocked.

"Oh, far better. Much more exciting." Lark grinned.

Finch wanted to argue the point. Them being hunted down didn't sound anywhere near the realm of fair  _ or _ exciting, but it wasn't worth it to kick up a fuss. If they escaped the hunt, they could escape for good. If they stayed here? They were just going to die, no stopping it. 

"Sounds good." Finch replied.

"I'll have some guards escort you to the Gateways, so you don't get attacked until you make it outside. I'll send out a small group at first, and if somehow you survive them, I'll send another. And I'll keep sending more until you're stone dead at my feet." Sinra drew closer still, but they both stayed put. Not frozen, by any means, but resilient. She was right up next to them now. Sinra wasn't an especially tall person but she towered over Finch. Her ornate headpiece only exaggerated her height further. "Of course, the disadvantages I've given myself  _ are  _ immense, so I should even the playing field just a little."

Quicker than either of them could react, Sinra withdrew her dagger and plunged jt into Lark's side. He let out a short yell that melded into smaller pained cries, and then a series of low groans and heavy breathing. Sinra let the handle of the dagger go as he bent over, taking a careful step back.

As Lark's hand reached for the weapon, Finch raced over to him. "Don't take it out!"

"Shut up! Shut up. I'm not- I'm not taking it out,  _ stupid _ ." Lark sniped before pressing their hand hard against the wound. Pressure. Good. 

"You can keep the blade, my treat." Sinra said, before looking to Finch. Her red eyes were so bright, they almost seemed to glow. "And  _ you  _ can either save yourself or carry around some deadweight. Consider it a test of character! Be on your way now."

Finch caught her gaze. "I'm going to kill you."

Finch didn't think they meant it. It was just one of those things you said. As clearly fucked up as this woman was, Finch didn't think they'd be able to actually do something like that to  _ anyone.  _ Besides, what were they supposed to do - grab the dagger out of Lark and use that while he died of blood loss in the background? 

Sinra clearly didn't think they meant it either. She laughed, harsh but elegant, and gestured a hand towards the door. "You can certainly  _ try,  _ cut snake, or you can leave. Up to you."

As she went to fetch the guards again, Finch turned to Lark. "Can you do any healing stuff once you get the chains off?"

Lark tried to laugh, but it quickly turned into a sharp hiss of pain. "Healing spells… are an admittance of weakness."

Finch rolled their eyes. "You could've just said no." They grabbed Lark's arm and gently hooked it around their neck.

"I don’t need  _ help."  _ Lark protested weakly, but allowed Finch to take their weight without any sort of fight. It would've been better if Finch was able to lift him somehow, but they weren't especially strong and they were pretty sure the drow weren't going to help out. 

The journey to the Gateways was a slow and tense one. The guards had taken up their chains again, but another pair had joined them just to point spears at their back. They were pretty clear about being annoyed at the slow progress they were making, but it wasn't like there was anything they could do about it. Lark was getting slower by each passing second.

It was… unusual actually. Worrying. Finch didn't know what getting stabbed was like, maybe this was normal? But the rate at which Lark was beginning to rely on Finch completely felt too rapid. 

"Are you okay?"

It was a stupid question. Lark had been stabbed, of course they weren't. Finch expected an answer saying as such, or perhaps a denial of anything being wrong at all. Instead, Lark lightly shook his head. "Something's weird… I don't know…" his words trailed off, and Finch figured that was about as much as they were getting out of him.

They garnered a lot of stares on their way, but as promised, the presence of the guards meant that no one did more than that. Most quickly averted their gaze. Finch supposed 'mind your own business' was a good motto to live by down here.

The Gateways sat in a large clearing in the middle of the city. They had been walking across dirt for a while, but here the ground sharply turned to a black material that Finch assumed was glass. In the centre of the clearing stood a statue of a woman so staggeringly tall that it had to be none other than Lolth herself, no one else could have something so permanent made for them here. Her arms were held outstretched, though her expression was anything but benevolent. Beautiful features twisted into a wicked grin and furrowed brows. The statue was black, but touches of near-white paint made her hair seem to glow and eyes shine bright and alive. She didn't have humanoid legs. Though her dress continued draping down, her body merged into that of a spider. Finch didn't quite know enough about her to be sure if that was an artistic liberty or not. 

The glass beneath their feet was a large circle, tall stone archways littering the circumference. There didn't seem to be anything special about the archways, Finch was well able to see through them to the other side. But the air here felt like being around Lark did times a million, like the moments before thunder and rain when the air becomes oppressively heavy and all you can smell is ozone. Magic felt wild and sharp and comforting all at once. Magic was like storms and metal and petrichor, and Finch found themself instinctively relaxing a little despite the situation. Magic was like Lark.

The Gateways were clearly a social centre of sorts. Numerous stalls had been set up around the podium of Lolth's statue and people milled about far more casually than Finch had seen anybody in the Underdark move thus far. As they approached, people began to still and quieten and stare. The guards standing behind them dropped their chains. One guard stepped forward, spear pointing towards one of the archways.

"That's your way to the Overworld." She said, voice snappy and harsh.

"Can you unchain us first?" Finch asked.

She allowed herself to smile a little. "Get going before I say you resisted and kill you here and now."

Finch took that as a pretty solid no.

As the guards left them, a lone drow parted from the crowd in the centre of the circle and made their way to them. "Hey, anklebiters. Y'sure know how to make an entrance."

Finch tried to take a step back, but it was hard with Lark fully using them to stay standing now. "Who-"

"Finch, right? You worth the suicide mission the kid went on to getcha?" They didn't question how Lark had managed to make a friend down here. Lark could barely make friends under normal circumstances.

"I don’t… yeah. Finch, they/them."

Finch expected to have to give another lesson on how pronouns worked where they were from, but the drow just laughed a little. "More freedom on the surface, huh? Tempest. And, you'll know."

"I'll know?" Finch echoed.

Tempest grinned. "You'll know."

They didn't have time to unpack that cryptic bullshit. "Lark is hurt."

"No, I'm n- No, I'm not." Lark protested in between heavy breaths. "I'm invincible, fuck you."

Tempest crouched down low until they were at eye level with the stab wound. They hummed. "I suppose dying is a step above being dead, I'm impressed." They trailed their finger along the design etched into the handle, but seemed careful not to move it. "This is from a priestess, right?"

Finch shifted Lark a little to amend the fact that his weight was starting to hurt their shoulder. It didn't help. The movement startled Tempest into standing up straight again. "Yeah. I mean, the Matron Mother? Sinra."

" _ Woooooow."  _ Tempest drew out. "He is  _ so  _ fucked."

Finch went on the defensive for very little reason. "What does  _ that  _ mean?"

"The priestesses here, Miss Matron Mommy too, they love dipping their blades in poison. Don’t even have the antidote themselves. Anyway," they shrugged. "Let's head, you can explain things when we're out of here."

Finch wanted to interject with  _ anything,  _ but they were already walking away. Tempest didn't help Finch with Lark, and at this point, as much as Lark was trying to stand, they were fully dragging him. Things made sense now that Finch knew this was some sort of bullshit poison thing, but that complicated everything. There were like, spells for stopping poison though, right? That was definitely a thing. They just had to hope the poison wasn’t  _ so  _ fast acting that Lark died before they could find someone that knew that kind of magic.

Stares continued to follow their path the entire way to the Gate, though no one moved towards them. Tempest waited at the Gateway for them, leaning with crossed arms against the rough stone. They gestured towards it as they approached. "Women and children, the injured and elderly - the first to the lifeboats."

Finch didn't object, but pulled a face as they moved past the drow. "Why do you even know what lifeboats are?"

Tempest scoffed. "Crikey… we have  _ water  _ underground, you know."

Finch outstretched their free hand towards the Gateway. They couldn't feel a thing, but at a certain point, the air began to ripple at their touch. They took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and stepped through.

The first thing they noticed was the cold. It had been cool underground, of course, but this was the  _ wind.  _ It was cold in a way that felt alive. The temperature didn't just sink into their skin anymore, it nipped at them in quick bites that sent shivers down their spine. They hadn't realised just how stale the air had been until now, the fresh air filling their lungs was better than any gift they had ever received.

They pulled Lark and themself forward just in time to avoid Tempest walking into them. The sister portal was made from the same dark stone as it had been underground, but large letters had been painted across the stone in red, spelling out words Finch didn't understand.

They looked around. As far as Finch could see, there was nothing but vivid green grass, a couple of trees, and hills a plenty. No village, no magical healer in sight, just fuck all. Great. The only thing they had going for them currently was that it was still the dead of night.

Tempest didn't hesitate to get down to business. "What was the deal you cut with the priestesses?"

"We uh, we're being hunted? When it's morning here, they're going to come after us."

Tempest hummed. "Tough break, that. Well, catch you later. I'm going to head off."

Finch was left flabbergasted for a solid moment, unable to do anything but gape until Tempest actually turned to walk away. "You're just leaving us?"

Tempest turned around and gestured towards Lark. "That's practically a dead body you’re dragging around there. If you want to leave him? I'd be more than happy to make the deal I made with him with you instead, but I'm not getting caught by Sinra's dogs. I'll risk it on my own, since I'm assuming you're two birds of a feather willing to kill yourselves together?"

For a moment, Finch didn't say anything. They couldn't even be angry at them, it was a pretty fair decision for a stranger to make. They nodded. "I'm not leaving them."

Tempest shrugged again. "Have a good one, rug rat."

They turned away again, but with a quick swish of their hand, their next step didn't land. Instead, they blinked out of sight. Finch had to admit, as much as they didn't get good vibes from Tempest, teleportation was pretty cool.

"Hey, Lark." They said. "You still alive, dude?"

There were no insistent reply of being fine this time. Finch looked down to see that Lark's head was hung limp, their entire weight was on Finch now - they hadn't noticed the moment that happened. He was breathing still, but it had turned shallow. Fuck. Great. Fantastic.

Finch looked desperately around again and caught sight on something they hadn't seen before then. The hills here weren't impressively tall, but on the highest sat a small white structure. It was too far up to fully make it out, but it definitely had to be man-made. Man-made meant  _ people,  _ and people meant hope.

Finch started on their ascent. Progress was slow, and quickly became exhausting. The chains didn't constrict their movement very much, but they were almost as heavy as Lark himself and kept getting tangled in each other or around their feet. They ended up having to drop Lark to lie him flat on his back, and drag him by his hands. Finch had to stick low to the ground to pull him upwards, and too many times they fell backwards and just sat there for a few solid minutes to catch their breath. The mountain was steep, Lark was heavy, and far too much time was passing by with too little progress.

Finch knew they weren't going to make it. Lark was going to die, and it was because they hadn't been quick enough to take the dagger blow for them, or smart enough to outwit Sinra, or strong enough to carry Lark up the hill in time. There wasn't really anywhere left to draw hope from, but Finch pushed forward nonetheless. What was the alternative? Sitting down and waiting for Sinra's hunting party to find them? Lark's spirit would kick their ass if they gave up without fighting until the very end. At the very least, they could continue moving until Lark died.

They were crying, they realised. Finch wasn't sure that they were feeling sad, really, they were just feeling… too much. Their body was trying its feeble best to relieve some of the stress of the situation. 

Finch was so caught up in how far away the building was from reach, that by the time they actually got to the top of the hill, it didn't feel real. It was like the world's biggest anticlimax. They had gotten to their location and were just… here now. No magical solution presented itself. They didn't know why they had expected any different.

It was a circular building made of white marble pillars, windows between each one. The windows themselves were made of a funny shaped glass that made it difficult to see into the building itself, but it definitely  _ looked  _ like no one was home. The space between the pillars to one side had no glass between them - the entrance. Despite knowing what awaited them, Finch dragged Lark inside anyway.

The air inside was pretty warm despite being open to the outside elements. It was a small building, nothing in the room but a large basin of clear water carved from smooth white marble. Opposite to the entrance, the space between two pillars was filled in with the same white marble, a series of drawings etched into the wall in gold. Beneath the wall was a humble hoard of treasure. Gold and flowers and food stacked up neatly against the marble. Finch got the impression that, once again, they had landed themselves in a temple.

No residents though. No help. 

Finch sighed and laid Lark across the ground, blood quickly staining the clean white floor. They sat down, leaned back against the water basin, and looked to their fallen friend. The wound itself clearly wasn't the biggest problem, Finch didn't even think the blade was  _ that  _ long and Lark seemed weirdly resilient. But they could see physical effects of the poison starting to show now. The veins in his neck and wrists were a sharp black colour in the way only stupid fantasy poisohs could be. Finch didn't try to find any more visible blood vessels. 

It was wrong to see Lark so unmoving. He was energy incarnate. Even if he  _ was _ pretty bad at fighting, he was still unstoppable. You couldn’t keep his spirit down, no matter what you did. He would just come back laughing or with a burning anger. 

Finch reached out and grabbed his hand in theirs, not sure why they were disappointed when he didn't grab their hand back.

They sat there for a while, only moving when the sun began to rise. As the rays shone through the glass to the East, the light scattered into a burst of colours, casting rainbows across the floor. 

_ Wow,  _ Finch thought,  _ gay rights, _

They found themself wandering outside to watch the sunrise, feeling strangely at peace in the moment. They were quickly pulled out of it by a loud shout from somewhere further down. Finch looked down the hill to find a large group of armoured drow clambering up its side. A small group of them, but Finch was pretty positive that they couldn't even take on one. They were making their way up a  _ lot  _ quicker than Finch had been. 

They rushed back inside the temple, but were left fumbling for anything to actually  _ do.  _ There was no time left now, the drow could be here in a matter of minutes. 

Fuck. Uhhhhhh, fuck. Fuck. Wow, fuck! Fuck. TL;DR:  _ Fuck _ .

A sliver of a thought was beginning to form in their head though. In the D&D lore they knew, gods were a lot more… actively noticeably and physically involved in things? There wasn't so much faith involved, since there was pretty tangible proof of their existence. Maybe it still worked the same here. Plus, they were in a  _ temple  _ right now. If there was  _ any  _ chance of anybody picking up the divine phone for someone who had never really been involved in much religiously speaking, here and now was probably the most likely time for it. 

"Hello?" Finch called out, feeling immediately awkward as they did. "I'm not really sure who's place this is, but it would be cool if you could help out or something. I'm just kinda hoping that you're chill."

Nothing happened. Yeah… that was about right. Kinda rude of them to ask for help from a god they had never tried believing in before.

They walked outside again to see how much progress the drow had made, but they had just... stopped. They weren't standing still, they had completely frozen in place mid-run, even the hair waving behind them was left floating in the air. A flock of birds passing overhead had stopped dead in their tracks too. Unmoving in their spots in the sky.

"HEY." A voice called out, not as sound, but as a voice in their head.

Finch raced back inside the temple. Lark was still lying near-dead on the floor, but they could  _ sense  _ that someone else was here. Just instinctively.

With nothing else in the room, Finch ended up nearing the marble basin and looking down into the water. All they could see was their own reflection, dirt smudged across their cheek from their trek up the hill, their makeup completely unsalvageable, but when they made to move away, the reflection didn't move with them.

The reflection's mouth moved even though Finch's stayed shut, the voice ringing through their mind again. "WHAT’S UP?"

Finch stared at their independently talking reflection a while before replying with, "I mean, kind of a lot."

"YEAH, I SENSE THAT. KIND OF A SHIT SHOW YOU'RE IN RIGHT NOW, DUDE."

"Yeah, for real."

"OKAY YOU GOTTA GIVE ME A MOMENT, I DON'T HAVE A GREAT CONNECTION RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M TRYING TO SUS OUT YOUR VIBES."

Finch wasn't exactly sure how a connection with a god could be rendered good or bad, but they were willing to just roll with it at this point. They were pretty over freaking out. They had reached that point. "Sure."

"OH SHIT YOU'RE THOSE KIDS THAT CAME IN FROM THE OTHER WORLD?"

"You know about that?"

"OH, FOR SURE, FOR SURE, FOR SURE. EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT IT. YOU CAN JUST SENSE WHEN THOSE KIND OF THINGS HAPPEN, IT'S PRETTY TIGHT. EVERYONE'S LIKE, NOT GETTING INVOLVED BUT THE LAST TIME THIS SHIT HAPPENED IT WAS KINDA BIG SO."

"Cool." Finch replied. "Not to be rude, but who am I talking to?"

"OH RIGHT. WASSUP, FINCH ANTONIO. THIS IS APOLLO."

Okay. Okay! Apollo was a pretty chill god, right? Poetry and sunshine and shit?

"YEAH, I'M PRETTY CHILL."

And he could read minds apparently.

"OH, MY BAD, WE'RE JUST PRETTY CONNECTED RIGHT NOW, I CAN'T REALLY  _ NOT _ READ YOUR MIND."

Finch shrugged. "It's fine, I'm just glad someone picked up. Can you like, help? I'll do…  _ whatever _ if you do."

"I MEAN, I TOTALLY WOULD LOVE TO GET SOME WEIRD ALIEN AS ONE OF MY WORSHIPPERS, THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING I'M CONSIDERING, I JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT IF YOU FIT MY DOMAINS RIGHT. I'VE GOT THIS WHOLE AESTHETIC GOING ON, YOU FEEL ME?"

"Sure."

"I MEAN, YOU'VE DEFINITELY GOT A LOT GOING ON THAT I DIG. MUSIC AND WRITING, TOTALLY MY DEAL. BUT YOU DON'T REALLY FIT THE LIKE, LIFE OR LIGHT AESTHETICS AND THAT'S KINDA MY THING. WE'VE GOT A WHOLE SYSTEM TO THIS SHIT, YEAH?"

"So… is that a no to helping?"

"JUST HOLD ON A SEC, I THINK I CAN FIGURE THIS OUT. I'M GOING TO PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON THE LINE."

"Cool."

A moment passed and then came another voice, though there was no image to attach this one too. " _ WHAT IS IT?" _

"ARTEMIS HEY I NEED YOUR HELP."

" _ WHO IS THE CHILD?" _

"IT'S CHILL, THEY’RE FINCH, THEY CHECK OUT."

_ "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ONE OF THE OTHER-WORLDY CHILDREN TO WORSHIP YOU?" _

"YES VERY MUCH SO."

_ "DON'T INVOLVE ME IN YOUR SHIT." _

"BUT EVERYONE WOULDN'T SHUT UP LAST TIME I HELPED SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T FIT MY ASSIGNED DOMAINS, I JUST NEED YOUR HELP A TINY BIT."

_ "OKAY, FINE, I'LL BITE. TELL ME YOUR IDEA." _

"YOU AND ME? SUN AND MOON? WE COULD TOTALLY PLAY THIS AS A TWILIGHT DOMAIN THING, PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT."

" _ THE PAPERWORK WOULD BE HELL." _

"I'LL DO THE PAPERWORK."

_ "YOU NEVER DO THE PAPERWORK." _

"I PROMISE I'LL DO THE PAPERWORK THIS TIME. ARTEMIS PLEASE, I WANT THE ALIEN CHILD."

_ "DO THEY EVEN FIT THE TWILIGHT DOMAIN? THIS FEELS LIKE A STRETCH." _

"ISN'T IT ABOUT FINDING LIGHT AND COMFORT IN DARKNESS OR SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING? THEY'RE FRIENDS WITH LITERALLY THE WORST KID, I'M PRETTY SURE THAT COUNTS AS SEEING THE BEST IN DARK STUFF."

_ "OKAY SURE, WHATEVER. IF ATHENA GETS PISSED AT HOW ILLOGICAL THIS IS, I'M BLAMING YOU. AND YOU OWE ME FOR THIS." _

"DEAL. LOVE YOU!"

_ "FUCK OFF." _

After a long stretch of silence, Finch tested the waters with another, "Hello?"

"HEY, FINCH. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS CO-PARENTING THING I'VE GOT PLANNED?"

"I'm cool with whatever will help me get out of this, I guess."

"AWESOME, AWESOME. I HAVE A FEW THINGS YOU HAVE TO AGREE TO BUT IT'S SUPER SHORT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE A TOTAL BUZZKILL OR ANYTHING."

Finch nodded. "Totally, yeah. Go ahead then."

"OKAY SO IF YOU SEE ANY OF MY TEMPLES AROUND THE PLACE YOU SHOULD GO IN A PRAY A LITTLE, MAYBE GIVE SOME OFFERINGS. BUT ALSO? YOU CAN GIVE OFFERINGS ANY TIME. IF YOU JUST GO WITH WHAT YOUR GUT TELLS YOU TO DO, IT'S PROBABLY RIGHT."

Finch nodded again. "Do offerings give you power or something?"

"NO, I JUST REALLY LIKE ATTENTION."

"Understandable."

"YEAH SO, DO THE OFFERING STUFF. ALSO, IF I ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING, THEN DO IT? IT'S CHILL THOUGH, I WON'T ASK YOU TO DO ANYTHING BAD. ALSO, YOUR FRIEND-"

"Lark?" Finch asked for clarification.

"YEAH HIM. LOOK, I'M SENSING SOME REALLY DARK SHIT ABOUT HIM. LIKE SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP. BUT THIS CONNECTION ISN'T GREAT SO I'M GOING TO TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT HERE AND SAY THEY’RE REASONABLY COOL? I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEM, IT'S JUST SUPER BAD VIBES ALL AROUND. SO JUST, KEEP AN EYE ON HIM? I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE A DICK TO YOU HERE, I DON'T WANT TO KILL HIM OR ANYTHING. SO IF YOU CAN FIND OUT WHAT THESE BAD VIBES I'M GETTING ARE AND HOW TO GET RID OF THEM IF THEY'RE A PROBLEM THEN THAT WOULD BE GREAT."

Finch was about 70% sure that the 'bad vibes' could just be Lark's personality in general, so they shrugged. "I can do that."

"HELL YEAH, THIS IS GOING TO BE SICK."

"Can you help Lark now?"

" _ WOAH _ . SORRY FOR TRYING TO HOLD A CONVERSATION."

"I'm sorry," Finch said, trying their best to sound as genuinely apologetic as possible. "They’ve just been bleeding out a while now. I'm a little worried."

"IT'S OKAY, I GET IT. JUST TAKE THE DAGGER OUT."

Finch looked down skeptically at Lark's body and the knife that was only thing keeping his blood inside it. "Are you sure?"

"WOW. 'ARE YOU SURE'? WHO IS THE GOD HERE, FINCH?"

" _ Okay,  _ okay." Finch quickly amended before kneeling down beside Lark. They placed one hand against him to keep him down, and wrapped the other around the dagger handle. They closed their eyes tight, then  _ pulled. _

Finch opened their eyes again  _ very  _ slowly, expecting to see blood everywhere. But there wasn't a drop of red in sight. There wasn't even a scar where the stab wound had been, just completely unbroken skin.

They let the dagger drop with a clatter to the ground. "Woah…"

"PRETTY SICK, RIGHT?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

"DON'T EXPECT THIS FREEBIE SHIT ALL THE TIME THOUGH. I'LL DEAL WITH THOSE DROW FOR YOU TOO, BUT THIS IS A ONCE-OFF DIVINE MIRACLE. IF THEY COME AFTER YOU AGAIN, YOU'VE JUST GOT TO FIGURE OUT YOUR MAGIC AND HELP YOURSELF, GOT IT?"

Finch had no idea how they were going to teach themself to use their magic, but nodded anyway. "Got it."

"NICE, OKAY. YOU WANT SOME FRESH THREADS WHILE WE'RE HERE?"

"You want to give me new clothes?" Finch asked.

"WELL THOSE ONES HAVE DIRT AND BLOOD ON THEM. IT'S REALLY GROSS. ALSO YOU HAVE CHAINS ON."

"Can you give Lark a new outfit too?"

"NO."

"Damn, okay. Don't get rid of the hat or anything though, it belonged to someone else."

"WILL DO. HOLD ON. MAYBE CLOSE YOUR EYES AGAIN?"

Finch did as instructed, quickly screwing their eyes shut. Immediately their body felt warm all over. It wasn't  _ hot,  _ it didn't burn. Instead, it was the exact kind of feeling you got when standing under a summer sun in a cool breeze. Warm and familiar, skin prickling a little at the touch. 

When were they supposed to open their eyes again?

"OH YEAH, SORRY. YOU CAN DO THAT NOW."

Finch cautiously peaked open their eyes and looked down. They were wearing something like a loose monastic scapular, teal and adorned with silver. At the base of the cloth, half a stylised silver sun was sewn into the fabric like it was rising over the horizon. Underneath was a cloth of much darker teal, baggy pants that met their boots halfway down their legs and a neatly fitting shirt without sleeves - all one piece. Their boots were the same light teal as the scapular, nearly knee-high, while their fingerless gloves matched the colour of their underclothes. A silver bag looped over their shoulder and across their chest to sit on their hip, and silver metal bands wrapped around their upper arms. It definitely lined up with Finch's idea of a fantasy-esque religious outfit, but still felt enough like them that the change wasn't jarring. 

Finch stepped towards the basin again, looking down at their reflection. Their hair had been neatly tied back after having fallen loose sometime back in the Underdark, and their earring had been replaced with one that looked like a crescent moon. There wasn't a speck of dirt or blood on them. Their makeup had even been scrubbed away and replaced with some simple silver eyeshadow dotting the inner corners of their eyes. Changing their clothes was probably the least miraculous thing to have happened, but they felt more like themself again now. The feeling of gentle sun touching their skin hadn't faded and they felt  _ good. _

Their chains had vanished, and to Apollo's credit, Lark's had too. 

Melisma's sunhat had moved from their head to laying neatly atop the pile of offerings on the far side of the room. It was a good enough place to leave it, Finch figured. Where better to leave to rest the remains of someone who suffered underground than to soak up sunlight in the temple of a god of light? They just hoped Melisma would've liked it.

"OKAY IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO TALK ABOUT BEFORE I DIP?"

Now that Finch's brain was working again, they asked, "Can you get us home?"

"LOOK. I'D LOVE TO HELP YOU OUT."

"But you can't?" Finch completed, picking up on the sentiment of the sentence.

"YEAH. THERE'S CERTAIN THINGS WE CAN AND CAN'T DO. IT'S THIS WHOLE ISSUE WITH THE PR DEPARTMENT. GIVING YOU SOME POWER TO HELP YOU SURVIVE IS ONE THING, BUT THROWING PEOPLE INTO OTHER UNIVERSES IS SUCH A BIG NO-NO THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW YOU GOT HERE. THERE'S SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON WITH THE WORLDS AND THEIR BORDERS. IF YOU LOOK INTO THAT, YOU MIGHT FIND YOUR ANSWER THERE."

"Okay," Finch nodded. That sounded kinda bullshit, but they had already been helped out majorly here and they weren't about to piss off a god for no good reason. "Thank you."

"PLUS YOU SHOULD PROBABLY FIND THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT CAME OVER FROM YOUR WORLD BEFORE YOU LEAVE."

"Other people?"

"ONE OF THEM LOOKS LIKE YOUR FRIEND? I'M GUESSING YOU KNOW THEM."

That would be Sparrow… great, the gang were all here apparently.

"THEIR NAMES ARE LARK AND SPARROW?"

"Yeah." 

"AND YOU'RE FINCH? WHAT ARE YOU - SOME KIND OF BIRD NAME SOLIDARITY GROUP?"

"Pretty much."

"WEIRD. ANYWAY, HAVE FUN, BE SAFE. I'LL JUST FINALISE ALL THIS FOR YOU."

Finch moved and their reflection followed suit. They were looking at themself again, no godly image possession. The reflection was broken as the water began to swirl, dots of golden light beginning to pop into existence within it. Finch took a step back as the water began swirling faster and faster, golden spots of light merging into continuous lines and growing in number until the entirety of the water was blinding to look at. Without warning, the light shot up into the air. It stretched higher than Finch could see, a bright yellow beam with a smaller white line of light at the centre of it all. They had to squint to look at it, and even then it still hurt. The beam pushed out hot air, forceful enough that Finch had to fight to stand in place, their new clothes whipping around them. And as suddenly as it started, it changed. Gold and white turned to a deep dark blue, dotted with silver throughout - almost the spitting image of the night sky. It was easier to look at then, less intense. The hot air dropped nearly immediately, replaced with a cool breeze that felt more comforting than bitter. It was a less sharp beam, melding into the air around it. While Apollo's presence had filled them with warmth, this brought with it a sense of calm that Finch was glad to see. They hadn't been out of panic mode for a good while now. The beam slowly dissipated until there was nothing left to see.

They looked down into the basin, the water just water again. A moment passed in silence before Finch was broken out of their tranquility by a loud gasp.

They spun around in time to see Lark sit himself up. He traced a hand over where there had once been a knife, before taking in his surroundings. Finally, his eyes landed on Finch.

He laughed. "You look stupid."

" _ Asshole _ ." Finch replied, but they smiled.

They had a lot of work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make a note that while I'm using Apollo and Artemis in this story, this does not reflect on my views of the actual deities that real people worship. These are very fictionalised forms of these gods, and should probably be disconnected to their real life equivalents. Also! I hope that me saying that the gods in faerun are more tangible doesn't come off as discrediting to anybody with religious beliefs. Of course, many people make contact with their gods in real life, but I'm sure you can understand the difference I was to show in how communication works in our world vs faerun. It's the same as real world magic vs harry potter, in a sense.
> 
> Finch,,, cleric! Finch definitely tries to be a pacifist as much as they can be to make up for some anger in their past. Sparring is one thing, real and bloody fighting is another. So ofc they've got to be a healing-heavy spellcaster. They were set to be a light cleric for quite some time, but the twilight domain... it's simply too cool to say no to


	28. it’s just SO much, i hate them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate Lark and Finch so much, someone tell them to shut up fjdjdksk I’m here writing lark dialogue like “i wish i could punt this kid across a room”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lark and finch are so fucking annoying this chapter im so sorry

Lark

Apollo’s Temple

“You seem to be less terrible at coping now.”

“Thanks, Lark,” Finch replied, “I think that development happened somewhere between hauling your ass up a hill and having a literal divine experience.”

“I meant it in a good way, idiot. You being all freaked out was really annoying.”

Finch rolled their eyes. “You know, Apollo said you have bad vibes. Maybe I should take his word for it and just kill you. That would be nice.”

“Try it, coward. You don’t have the taste for blood in you. You are  _ nothing.” _

“Right.” Finch replied. “Let’s get going before we’ve got more drow to deal with.”

“How’s about just one?” 

Lark whipped his head around to find Tempest leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. 

“Hi, Tempest.” He greeted casually.

“Hey, anklebiter.”

Finch raised an eyebrow. “I thought you left?”

“Saw the light show,” Tempest shrugged. “Came back and saw Sinra’s little fighters all conked out on the hill. Figured something exciting was happening.”

“I talked to a god.” Finch provided.

“A cool one?”

“Apollo. Artemis was there too, but I didn’t get to really talk to her.”

“Eh,” Tempest shrugged again, “not the worst, I guess. You guys still need an adult chaperone?”

“Only if you’re useful.” Lark said.

“I’ll try my best.”

“Oh shit, by the way,” Finch said suddenly, turning to Lark, “The others are here apparently, we need to call them, find out where they are.”

Lark put his face in his hand and groaned. “The others are  _ here?  _ They couldn’t have simply stayed put and allowed me to pull off my daring heroic rescue mission on my own?”

“Where’s your phone?” 

Lark searched his pockets three times over. “I don’t have it.”

“You lost it?”

“I guess? It must have fallen out somewhere.”

“What’s a phone?” Tempest cut in.

Finch took their own phone from their pocket and showed them. “Like this but not broken.”

“ _ Oh.”  _ Tempest dug into their pocket and dug out a phone, before handing it to Lark. “Here.”

He took it. It was his phone. Smashed to pieces.

“This is broken too.” Lark noted.

“Guess so.” They shrugged. “Snap.”

“You play snap in Faerun?” Finch asked.

“Sure. How else would we determine the superior amongst sets of twins?”

Finch looked away. “Please never tell me why it’s called snap.”

Lark kinda wanted to know.

“Well, what’s the plan?” Tempest asked.

Finch and Tempest both looked to Lark. Obviously. He was natural leader material.

“Roqueporte.” He quickly decided. “Terrence Junior would want to get his hands on some powerful nerd magic if he came here and that place has a bunch of those books just lying around.”

“Sounds good to me.” Tempest replied as they turned to walk outside. “We can grab some tucker at the town way down the mountain before we leave.”

Finch looked like they were about to faint. “There was a  _ town  _ at the bottom of the mountain this whole time?”

Tempest turned back. “On the other side, sure. You didn’t see the stairs?”

“No?”

“Oh well, no worries, mate. It would’ve been hard yakka dragging the kid down anyway. Probably would’a died halfways and then what’s he good for, y’know?”

Finch stared at them blankly. “Sure.”

As they all began to walk out, an idea quickly formed in Lark’s head. As per usual, it was a good idea, so he carried through on it instantly without a second thought. He raced forward, reached by Tempest’s side and pulled out their magical dagger.

They whipped around to face him with a, “huh?” and very quickly found themself at the pointed end of a blade.

“I want to make sure you’re the real deal first.” 

They looked down nonplussed at the dagger and rolled their eyes. “Bit full on. You could’ve just  _ asked _ , you know? I don’t have anything to lie about. The magic’s easy as. Just channel your  _ own _ magic into it and it’ll do all the work.”

Lark pictured the magic pooling under his skin slowly seeping into the weapon. Slowly but surely, the blade lit up with a brilliant blue glow.

“Lark,” Finch said, “What are you doing?”

“It’s just a lie detector, it’s fine.” Lark assured, before glaring icy daggers at Tempest to make sure they knew he wasn’t fucking around. “Do you intend to hurt or sabotage us in any way?”

“Not right now.” Tempest replied. “But if someone cut me a good deal for it? Yeah, I’d sell yous out.”

Green glow. Truth.

Finch frowned. “That’s not exactly reassuring, you know.”

“Just trying to be ridgy-didge. Do you  _ want  _ me side-stepping your questions? Look. Deadset, cards on the table, you two seem useful but I’m going to put me, myself and I above yous if it came down to it. Got it?”

No change, still green.

Lark hummed. Honestly? He liked that answer better than he would’ve a simple ‘no’. Tempest presented themself as a bad person, and he could trust a bad person to be consistently bad more than he could trust a good person to stay good.

“Okay,” Lark said, shaking out the dagger until it turned blue again as he’d seen Tempest do before. He wasn’t really sure if it was actually necessary or just for theatrics, but better safe than sorry. He put it back against her neck. “Do you have any ulterior motives?”

“Yes.” Green.

Lark’s eyes narrowed, and he shook the dagger back to blue again. This time he pressed it slightly harder against the skin of Tempest’s throat. “What? Tell me it.”

They looked steadily at Lark, unphased, and smiled. “You have a strange magic about you. I want to know its true extent.”

Green. 

There was a long pause.

“Yeah, okay.” Lark shrugged, lowering the dagger. “Seems good to me.”

Tempest grinned and took the dagger back from him, tucking it by their side again.

“I- Lark, can we talk real quick?” Finch asked.

This was going to be annoying, Lark could sense it. Still, he could indulge one single annoying conversation for the sake of less later.

“Yep!” Lark replied, before waving his hand at Tempest. “Shoo, shoo, Earth talk.”

Tempest scoffed. “Rug rats are really up themselves these days like they aren’t about as useful as parasol in the Shadowfell.” Regardless of their muttering, they walked outside without any real argument.

Lark looked to Finch expectantly.

“Seems good?” Finch repeated. “Lark, they literally admitted they would betray us if it would help them.”

Lark shrugged. “I would betray them if it helped us.”

Finch looked like they had something to say to that, but shook their head instead of pressing at it. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“Safety is bor-ing,” Lark said, putting heavy emphasis on each syllable of the word.

“This isn’t like not wearing a helmet, man. I don’t want to  _ die  _ here.”

Lark sighed. “We’re not going to  _ die.  _ The only people who would want our heads is the other drow, who Tempest wants to stay away from! Someone doing everything for selfish reasons is  _ always  _ more trustworthy than the person supposedly doing it out of the goodness of their heart! Simple strategy.”

Finch frowned. “I guess.”

Lark was already walking outside. “Come  _ onnnn _ then! We need to get going, loser.”

They didn’t stop in the town below the mountain for very long. They grabbed some food with money Tempest nicked off some unsuspecting passerby and hired a coach to take them to Roqueporte (also with stolen money). It turned out to only be a half-day’s ride, and they were dropped off a little ways away from the town. People thought the town was cursed apparently. They didn’t talk about anything too significant on the way, but it became clear that Tempest was the only one excited to see the books The Tower at Roqueporte held. Finch and Lark were too focused on finding the others.

It was a ghost town. No signs of life anywhere but some plants that seemed to be in an uphill battle against death. The Tower itself stood high above the abandoned houses of the town, its dark stone a stark contrast to the cute wooden houses dotted around it. 

As they reached the tower, Lark was hit with an idea.

“I wish to investigate something!” Lark announced. “Tempest, you stay here, go into the The Tower, and look at books or whatever it is you do.”

Tempest narrowed their eyes. “Why?”

“Do you really care?”

They didn’t look any less suspicious of him, but shrugged and looked back to the tower. “Okay, I guess.”

Lark pulled Finch by the sleeve along with him as he walked away. Finch didn’t say anything about it until they were standing outside where Lark assumed was the right building. It was the only house completely covered in twisting vines and flowers after all.

“What is this place?” Finch asked.

“A witch used to live here. I’m hoping she left some cool magic stuff behind.”

Finch nodded. “And you’re hiding it from Tempest because-?”

God. Finch was such an idiot. This would never happen with anyone else from the group.

“Because we don’t  _ trust  _ trust her, idiot — You said it yourself. If we don’t find the others here, I don’t want to play all my cards yet, that’s just thinking smart. Keep all our advantages close to our chest..”

Finch just gave a short, “mmhm,” before nodded at the door. “Well,  _ you  _ can go into the witch’s house first.”

“Coward.” Lark sniped, before entering the house. The door didn’t make much noise, not enough to draw the attention of the person struggling to carry a box across the room. She was a pudgy woman with a giant mass of flaming red hair and her back to them.

Well  _ that  _ didn’t make sense. Still, Lark was excited to see something he recognised. 

“Erin!”

The garden witch jumped and dropped the box straight onto her foot.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed, shaking out her foot like that would do jack shit. She turned around and looked over to Lark, her eyes widening. “Woah… woah, woah, woah. Hold up. You’re- where’s Henry?”

“Unfortunately, Father is too preoccupied being not in this realm to assist! It is just me and my good maybe-friend Finch!”

Erin glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of Finch at last. They gave a short wave as she looked them over. “You’re… Glenn’s kid?”

“They’re new.” Lark corrected.

“Right. Well, no offense… uh-“

“Lark.”

“Lark, right. Well, no offense, like I said, but why are you here? Shouldn’t you be… fucking... I don’t know,  _ not _ here?”

“Yep! Weird dimension stuff!”

Erin hummed and crouched down to put her box rightways, picking up a few trinkets that had fallen to the floor. “How long has it been for you?”

“Five years!”

She frowned, peering up at him. “It’s been five years here too… there should’ve been at least  _ some  _ time difference, a few decades more here at the smallest guess. Maybe there was more to your anchors than I thought? Hm.”

“Okay, so, I don’t really care about any of that,” Lark said, “We’re trying to find the other kids. Can your magic help or what?”

Erin sighed. “You kids really inherited your family charm, huh?”

“Well, if you can’t do it-“

“No, no. I’ll help. Not going to let a bunch of children get killed off on my watch. I’ll ask around, see if any trees have seen the rest of your pack.”

“Thank you.” Finch replied.

Erin smiled, before letting her expression fall back into something more neutral. “I’ll have to stay put if you want me to keep an eye out for them while you go looking. Have you kids got anyone with you?”

Lark nodded. “This drow mystic is tagging along with us!”

Erin frowned. “Do you know what city they’re from?”

“We met her at Echo Cavern.” Finch replied. “Don’t know if she’s from there though.”

Erin let out a concerned hum. “I’m not saying a mystic’s not a good person to have as an ally but just… be careful, alright? Some of those Underdark cities,  _ especially  _ Echo Cavern, are brainwash central towards shitty ways of thinking. People are forced into certain mindsets, it’s not an easy thing for someone to overcome.”

“We’re not trusting her or anything,” Lark assured, “She’s just useful.”

“Alright… just be careful. You remember how to contact me?”

“Yell at a bunch of leaves?”

“Exactly.” Erin nodded. “If you need my help urgently, just give me a call.”

“I shall mark you down as an asset!” Lark replied.

“I’m thrilled.”

The walk back to the tower was a short trip, and nothing exciting happened on their way up the tower either. There were a few decaying bat corpses lying about the foyer, the first room upstairs was covered in scattered clay that stank like rotten meat, and they continued upwards through a dining hall and then up another set of stairs. If Finch saw Terry’s name on the vat in the first room or the strange chairs in the dining hall, they didn’t comment on it.

The first door up the stairs was locked. There was nothing there but a dead bat and the word ‘Open’ engraved into the metal of the doorknob. When they couldn’t figure it out, they continued upstairs, meeting Tempest in a large living room. She had perched herself on the coffee table and was sorting through a pile of books that had been snatched from the small bookshelf in the room.

“Anything fun?” Lark asked.

Tempest looked up and lightly tossed her current book back onto the rest of the pile. “Not much. I wanted to see if any of these would have anything useful, but barely any are in Common.”

Lark grabbed a book at random and cracked it open. “Oh! This is French.”

“They have  _ France  _ in this fantasy realm?” Finch questioned.

“There’s a  _ lot _ of weird crossover from our world.” Lark replied.

“Of course we have  _ France.”  _ Tempest said. “But I’m not from there, I can’t read a lot of these.”

“I know French.” Finch piped in. “I mean, I’m better at speaking it but I can read it  _ fine.” _

Lark tossed his book at Finch who caught it with a small, “oof!” against their chest. “Your job now then.”

“Fine.” 

“Well,” Tempest began, “if you’ve got the French books covered, I’ll keep heading up the stairs and look around.”

Lark nodded. “Mmhm! I’ll go investigate too. Mayhaps I shall chance upon an all-powerful vampire weapon!”

“I don’t think vampires usually have weapons.” Finch pointed out.

“Boo, don’t be boring.”

“Yeah whatever... Oh, hey, Tempest?” Finch asked.

Tempest looked over at them from where she stood one step on the stairs. “Mm?”

“Are you…  _ doing _ that? You said before that I would just ‘know’ your pronouns, and now I can’t stop using ‘she’s and ‘her’s when I think about you.”

Oh. Now that Finch mentioned it, Lark had been doing the same despite sticking with they/them before.

“Oh sure,” Tempest replied casually, “Pretty simple mind stuff.”

“You’re in our heads?” Finch pressed.

“I can just skim recent thoughts, some feelings, the vibes of your headspace. The pronouns thing is some surface level perception stuff.”

Finch looked disturbed. “You can read my thoughts?”

Tempest smiled. “Don’t worry about it, you mind really isn’t special enough for me to care about it.”

Lark laughed. “I bet that hurts so much”

“I’m just glad it was me she said she doesn’t care about. If anyone told  _ you  _ that you weren’t special, you’d break down.”

Lark glared. “Would not.”

“Would too.”

“You’re the one that’s a try-hard.”

“A try-hard?” Finch echoed.

Lark shrugged. “Yeah. Well. There’s the dyed hair and the makeup and the trying to fight me-“

“ _ You  _ started a fight the second time we talked because I told you I liked your shirt.”

“Yeah, but you were asking for it. Point is, you did all of that because you’re just a  _ wannabe  _ cool person and you wanted attention.”

“Kimberly has literally done all of those things too.”

“Yes… But she’s at least a little bit naturally cool so she’s allowed.” He explained. It was pretty simple to understand.

Finch grinned. “Oh, come on. You think I’m  _ so  _ cool.”

Oh no. They were turning the argument around. “No, I don’t,” Lark shot back quickly.

“It’s absolutely crazy how cool you think I am.”

This was bad. Finch was winning all of a sudden. “I do  _ not _ think you’re cool!”

“You’re practically obsessed with me.”

Dammit! He needed to get this conversation back in  _ his _ control! “I’m not obsessed with you!  _ You’re  _ the one who wanted to go to prom with  _ me. You  _ have a crush on me!”

Finch’s smile dropped. “What?”

Oh no. That wasn’t the control he wanted. Lark’s brain came to a screeching halt as he tried to process what he had just said. 

“What?” He echoed.

“You  _ knew  _ about that?”

Lark struggled to find a good answer. “I figured it out eventually?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, you were all  _ weird  _ about it, I only figured it out just before all the freaky sky stuff.”

“I… well-“ Finch looked to Tempest. “Can we have a minute?”

Tempest, who had been looking back and forth at each of them as they spoke in turn, held her hands up like they were surrendering. “Alright. I’ll just be looking around upstairs if you need me.”

She went up the stairs, and the two of them were left staring at each other in an awkward silence. 

“You have…” Lark began, gesturing wildly with his hands to show he was trying to find his words. “A romantic interest in me?”

“Well.” Finch didn’t say anything else for a moment, before they crossed their arms tight across their chest. “Maybe I  _ do.” _

“Gross.”

Finch’s hands tightened around their arms and the corner of their lips fell. Eyes wide and the inner part of their brow lifted, Finch just stared at him for a moment. Lark couldn’t tell if they were more upset or surprised. As quickly as it came, the expression soured. Their brows furrowed and lips pressed tightly together, and Lark could recognise the familiar spark of anger in their eyes. 

“ _ Gross?” _

Lark rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Right. What  _ did  _ you mean then?”

“I just- I don’t know! I said it in a joke way, I guess!”

Finch scoffed. “God, you’re such an asshole. A joke way?”

“What do you even want me to say?!”

“I don’t know! Sorry for being rude?”

“I wasn’t being rude!” He objected.

Finch uncrossed their arms to start accenting their words with anger gestures.“Yes, you were! I shouldn’t have to get all upset for you to apologise, how do you  _ not  _ realise that saying how I feel is gross is shitty? Just say sorry!”

“But I didn’t  _ do  _ anything!”

“You do  _ so  _ much, and it just keeps piling the fuck up!” Finch took an audible deep breath. “You know, I’m  _ not  _ over you making fun of me for being upset about a dead body, by the way. 

“I did not!! And, I mean... it wasn’t even  _ that  _ gross.”

Finch gave a short laugh, shaking their head in disbelief. “Everytime I think I’m over the last thing you did, you just do  _ more  _ shit. Do you know how  _ genuinely  _ unsurprised I’d be right now to find out that this whole realm border destruction thing is your fault? If you told me right now that you wanted to kill me and Sparrow and everyone else you’ve ever fucking known, I’d be like ‘wow. big step up but that seems on brand’!”

Lark rolled his eyes. “You are being, what one might call, hyperbolic.”

“Oh, _shut_ _up.”_

“Just because you misread my intentions-“

“Didn’t I  _ say  _ for you to shut up?”

“If I say sorry-“

Finch threw their hand out in a sharp vague gesture towards Lark.  _ “ Shut up! “ _

Finch’s voice boomed outwards, unnaturally loud, especially for them. There was a split second where Lark caught sight of Finch’s eyes — completely white-silver — and the pale glow around their hand. And then, that same white-silver light was  _ all _ he could see. 

Heat licked against his skin like flames he couldn’t see. Lark had a high pain tolerance, but this felt like being thrown straight into a pit of fire. He couldn’t stifle a cry of pain that escaped his lips, no part of him safe from the searing bright light. He was shocked enough that he found himself unable to move.

Something slammed into his arm, fumbled for a moment, then grabbed him tight and  _ pulled.  _ Lark was yanked out from the light and crashed into Finch. He had to take a moment to adjust his eyes from the light, blinking until he could see Finch properly — the person in question looking scared shitless. What bare skin Lark could see on himself was covering with white swirling patterns, but they quickly faded as his skin cooled. He looked back at the pillar of light that he had been hit with, the magic already fading.

Finch’s hand was still tightly clasped around his upper arm. Their anger had completely disappeared. “Holy fuck, Lark, are you okay? I didn’t mean- that wasn’t me! I- I mean I think it was but I didn’t mean to do it. I haven’t even  _ done  _ magic before, I don’t know how it works. I’m so sorry-“

Lark didn’t care. He pushed against Finch’s shoulders hard enough to make them stumble backwards and glared them down. “Next time you attack me, I’ll attack  _ back.” _

“I wasn’t  _ trying  _ to attack you!”

Finch took a step towards him and Lark held up his arms to indicate he was ready to cast something at any given moment. 

“I’m going upstairs.” He announced. “Search somewhere else.”

Lark looked away before they could catch whatever Finch’s reaction was. They marched out of the room and made their way up the spiral staircase as quickly as they could, practically storming through the first door they came across.

Tempest didn’t flinch. She casually threw him a look from where she stood halfway across the room, looking through dusty books on the shelves that took up the entirety of the furniture. “That sounded like fun.”

“Shut up.” Lark scowled, slamming the door shut behind him. The dark floorboards creaked under his feet as he made his way into the room.

Tempest just hummed and turned back to the books in front of her.

Lark tried his best to look through the book titles for something useful to them, but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering back to Finch. They hadn’t actually  _ meant  _ to make them upset, Finch was just... overreacting. They had  _ attacked  _ him. With full blown magic! Not that Lark hadn’t attacked Finch before but this was obviously different and Finch was entirely in the wrong here. 

… That wasn’t actually right though. Lark knew that. He shouldn’t have brought up Finch’s crush like that or made a joke about it or helped escalate things or… well, long story short, they had both fucked that conversation up. It was definitely an  _ equal  _ fuck up though. He groaned and pressed his head into the bookshelf in front of him. They were going to have to have a certified Oak-Garcia Feelings Jam about this if they were going to go forward without things being unbearably awkward, weren’t they?

He sensed someone staring and turned to find Tempest doing just that.

Lark tried his best to look mad again. _ “What?” _

“I can just feel your energy from here.” Tempest shrugged.

“What does  _ that  _ mean?”

“You’re just pretty loud about your emotions.” 

Lark scowled and made to turn back before Tempest spoke again.

“And the magic spilling out of you… I know who you are now.”

Lark laughed a little. “You don’t know  _ shit.” _

“I wasn’t sure if you were talking about it earlier, but it rang familiar. So I’ve been skimming your mind. Grabbing what I can.”

“You can’t grab my  _ thoughts!  _ Those are mine!”

“Relax, Lark. Nothing significant, it’s just that- there’s this other presence there. You have something in your head, don’t you? It’s faint, but I can feel it.”

Lark hadn’t actually heard the  _ voice  _ in a while now, but she wasn’t wrong. He tried his best to ignore it but now that he was thinking about it, he became conscious of its presence again. Like when someone tells you that you’re manually breathing. There was something nesting in the back of his head. 

Lark scowled. “I’m not saying nothing about nothing.”

“No, no, no! You don’t- the god in your blood — You called it The Doodler? That’s the  _ Eldritch One.  _ Here-“ she rummaged through a bag by her side before pulling out a separate leather purse. 

She hurriedly opened it and pulled out a folded piece of fabric. She let it fall open, revealing it to be a worn and torn banner. A familiar one. In the middle of it was Sparrow’s design for their soccer mascot that had been copied across dozens of banners just like it all across the city of Neverwinter. “You know. This?”

Lark grinned.

Tempest was still talking. “A while back I made this stop in Grifter’s Mark — this Upperdark city, so a whole ton of surface folk come through on the regular. This one morning, a group of humans stopped by — all terrified — couldn’t even say the name of the god, just told us what it had done to the town after they didn’t give it what it wanted.”

Lark nodded. “Yes. That’s definitely what happened.”

“The religion spread like  _ wildfire  _ down here. Most places in the Underdark are like Echo Cavern — restricted, oppressive. So a god who wanted chaos? It was  _ everything.  _ It’s why I trained as a mystic, why I want to go to the surface.”

Lark raised a brow. “Why the surface?”

“Nothing can topple things down there, but up here? Leaders are fickle, easily swayed. The religion already had a reach outside of Neverwinter before, but word spread quickly through Upperdark cities. There’s a big reach on the surface. Night Falls, Silverkeep, Wakefield, Beckencawl, Ded Dubh… They just need someone to unite them. Bring about the end of the world so it can be reborn better. And  _ you,  _ you’re the person they spoke about.  _ The Lord of Chaos.  _ They said you summoned a pyramid to kill hundreds in the name of the Eldritch One when Neverwinter’s sacrifices weren’t enough to appease it.”

“Well,” Lark shrugged, “I’m one-half of the Lord of Chaos, sure. My sibling is the other.”

“But you  _ do  _ wish to carry out the wishes of the Eldritch One, don’t you?”

Lark didn’t really want the world to end, actually. He didn’t think The Doodler was nice enough to bring it back again afterwards. Last time, he had only wanted to summon it to kick its ass. “First of all, it’s called The Doodler. And, see, the whole ending the world thing is  _ super  _ cool, but I can’t do that without my sibling.”

“Of course, of course.” Tempest nodded enthusiastically before grabbing Lark’s hands in their own. “Let me help you. Help you help  _ it.  _ We’ll reunite you and you’ll destroy the world together. I mean, already the dormant power you have is unbelievably strong.”

“Definitely, definitely. So… if I wanted a way to heal the cracks in the borders of the worlds… you know, to  _ properly  _ destroy  _ this _ one, I would need to do that first. Would this dormant power let me do that?”

“Heal the… what?”

Lark looked for a lie that would keep Tempest invested. “There are cracks in the borders that separate the worlds which… are leeching off the Doodler’s power. We need to fix those up if we want to power to destroy the world  _ and  _ rebirth it without any mistakes. Perfect phoenix cycle.”

Tempest considered it. “Oh… well, I would…  _ guess  _ so? That seems like something that much power should be able to do.”

“And how would I go about  _ un- _ dormafying this power?”

Tempest hummed to herself. “I could… try some mystic bullshit? Open up your mind more?”

The thought of someone rummaging through his mind was  _ very  _ unappealing. Lark trusted that he could control Tempest well enough now that he knew she was a follower of The Doodler, but he didn’t trust that she wouldn’t look deeper into his mind to find out how much  _ he _ really believed.

“Give me your knife again.” Lark demanded.

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

“You want to prove your loyalty to The Doodler? Do what his greatest emissary says.”

She sighed before hesitantly pulling out her knife and passing it to Lark. He took the knife in one hand and her wrist in the other before holding the blade to the skin of her hand. Lark willed magic into it, the knife glowing blue to indicate it was ready to work.

“Do you swear you only intend to help open my mind and that you will not do anything to influence my thoughts or read my mind in any capacity other than what is completely necessary?”

“I swear… all that junk you just said. Yeah.” 

The blade turned green.

Lark smiled. “Let’s do this then.”

Lark could see nothing but an endless darkness. He couldn’t actually  _ sense  _ anything — no heat, no sound, no smell — but felt a phantom chill run down his neck regardless. 

The black below him was solid enough to stand on, and Lark could see his reflection in it as easily as he could in a mirror despite the lack of any light source.

His eyes stayed trained on the image and very quickly he realised that it  _ wasn’t  _ a reflection. The image’s expression was completely neutral no matter how many faces Lark pulled at it. As he knelt down, it followed suit. He pressed his hands into the ground. They stopped at a certain point, but Lark couldn’t feel anything solid. He leaned in close to the ground, the image followed suit.

It  _ wasn’t  _ him. The image didn’t have the small faded scar on his ear from the accident with the pyramid like Lark did — a tiny momento left over from that adventure despite the healing magic his father had pooled into him. 

Which meant this was his sibling.

“Sparrow?”

“Lark.” The image replied without hesitation, Lark couldn’t pinpoint where the sound was actually coming from. It’s expression remained unmoving. 

Pieces of it shifted slowly, and then Lark couldn’t even remember when the image didn’t have its hair tied back the way Sparrow liked to style it.

Lark’s legs fell out from underneath him. His eyes instinctively closed as he fell forward. He didn’t feel himself stop, but when he opened his eyes he was flat on his stomach and staring down at the image again. It was him this time, a true reflection from the scar on his ear to the mirroring of his expressions.

“Lark.”

Sparrow stood ahead of him, face stoney and unmoving, his own reflection cast across the floor. 

Bad vibes. Lark got to his feet, before glaring his sibling down. “You... aren’t Sparrow.”

“No.”

“Tempest?”

“No.”

“What are you then?”

“As much a part of you as you are.” Sparrow replied.

Lark didn’t respond for a moment. He just knew he didn’t like this. “You aren’t allowed to steal their face.”

There was a moment where nothing happened and then Sparrow’s features faded until they were nothing but a grey silhouette. It morphed, growing slightly shorter and wider, and its features slowly returned to view to reveal his mother.

“No.”

It morphed again. This time turning into his father. After another refusal, it shifted to Finch and then Nick and then-

“Stop.”

The silhouette of Nick remained grey, unmoving.

“Just  _ stop.  _ You can’t just steal the face of people I  _ like.  _ If you have to do this whole ‘people I know’ thing, at least pick someone I hate so I can feel good about it.”

There was a long pause. Then slowly, the silhouette creeped taller again. For a moment, Lark thought it was morphing into his father once more, but the hair was longer and loose, and they were wearing the skirt of a dress or a robe instead of the shorts the copy of his father had been wearing before.

The silhouette slowly gained its features again. This time taking up the appearance of Barry Oak.

“Is this better, Lark?” It asked.

It  _ almost  _ sounded like Barry. Pitch, volume, accent… it was all his _.  _ But it lacked the smug edge that made him  _ him _ . As unswayed by emotions as Barry would’ve wanted to be.

Though, Lark was pretty confident that Barry would’ve been fucking pissed at some stupid silhouette he couldn’t control stealing his face, so this was the ideal scenario. 

Lark nodded. “Perfect. Now tell me what you are.”

“Like I said before, I am as much a part of you as you are.”

Lark paused, racking his brain. “... The Doodler?”

“The Doodler is not a separate entity. A part of it is a part of you. It has no  _ voice,  _ it has only a will. A will that becomes your’s. You cannot separate yourself from it.”

“So what are  _ you  _ then?” Lark pressed.

“You, in a manner of speaking. You opened your mind and this is the only way you could fully process your subconscious.”

“So you’re my subconscious?”

“I am how you are choosing to  _ view _ your subconscious. I am your chosen computer, your subconscious is the code.” Barry explained.

Lark pulled a face. “Okay, sure. But you can tell me stuff?”

“I can tell you only what you do not know you know.”

He rolled his eyes this time. “Just show me how to find the others and fix the world.”

“You don’t know how to do those things.”

“What?! Unfair!”

“Unlocking the full depths of your mind needs more than the work of one meager mystic. You have natural protective walls built up that would need to be torn down.”

“And I could do that?”

“That is not something I know.”

Lark grumbled under his breath a moment before returning to his important work of glaring at Barry. “But if I  _ did  _ smash those mental walls, I could fully tap into my deserved full godly powers?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s a stupid answer.”

“I’m not omniscient, Lark.” It replied. Maybe it  _ was  _ more like Barry than he’d thought.

“You’re a visualisation of my subconscious, don’t get sassy.”

“If I’m sassy, it’s because you think I should be that way.”

Lark groaned. “Okay! Can I just go now? This is getting boring.”

“Of course.” Barry nodded, his melting fading back into the grey silhouette before reforming as Sparrow once more, this time with the two power gauntlets on his fists.

For the first time, their expression moved. Sparrow grinned wide and dangerous — a familiar look.

Lark held up his hands. “Wait, how-“

“POWER!” 

Sparrow punched him square in the chest and back into consciousness. He awoke with a loud gasp and Tempest jumped backwards from where she had been holding her fingers against his temples.

He pressed his hand to his chest instinctively, somehow it stung despite the damage being done metaphysically.

“You aren’t powerful enough.” Lark told her. “We need something stronger than you to break my mental defences.”

Tempest hummed. “Maybe… It’s a stretch but… the city I mentioned earlier — Night Falls? They’re all about psychic and philosophical shit. There’s a pool there that they use to ‘find their purest thoughts’, they think it fully exposes you to every part of your mind so you can find your truest ideas. I don’t know if it’s exactly  _ real,  _ but it’s the only thing I can think of unless you’ve got it good with any other gods.”

“And we could get to the pool?”

“I mean,  _ usually  _ it’s reserved for shitty academic bigwigs, but according to the people who came from Neverwinter? The biggest follower of The Eldritch One-“

“Doodler.”

“Right. The biggest follower of The Doodler in Night Falls is the king himself.”

Lark smiled. “I guess we’re going to Night Falls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cut off a few scenes that I intended to put at the end of this chapter because I was tired of writing, so the next chapter should finally be a shorter one for me to write,,, hallelujah. chiller too
> 
> wow tempest,,, genderfluid cultist icon 🥰


	29. “Here in the afterglow of day,”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short little cooldown chapter before we see how the rest of the gang is doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: negativity about someone’s own diability and a ‘need to cure it’ mindset

Finch

The Tower

The books weren’t very insightful. The ones in this room had nothing to do with finding people or jumping universes and everything to do with overly descriptive journaling. 

Finch didn’t like reading much anymore. It had gone from something they genuinely enjoyed to a chore to struggle through. It took working with context clues to figure out words they couldn’t read like a second-rate Sherlock Holmes or the use of an aid like text-to-speech. They usually relied on audio books at home, and at school they just listened and hoped they picked up enough to get by. The school tried to accommodate where they could at their parents’ insistence, but it was never enough despite how much Finch pretended it was. Reading messages on their phone was usually always through text-to-speech and headphones. 

Finch was pretty positive these vampire diaries didn’t come with a fun CD to help them get through the endless paragraphs.

They had told Lark they were going to look into treatment for the spatial neglect a while ago now, mostly to force themself to commit to it. But honestly? That kinda shit would be a lot of labor for a solution that only lasted a couple of weeks. What was even the point? Might as well just cross their fingers and hope to be one of the people that recovers naturally over time.

From what they managed to pick out though, the person who lived here was a vampire, as Lark had said, that preyed on children. They had picked up enough context from conversations about the tower to recognise ‘Terry Junior’ and slammed the book closed when they caught sight of his name. None of their business.

They tossed the diary aside. Fuck reading. Why were they even doing what Lark wanted them to do anyway?

They decided to explore the rest of the floor instead.

Finch went over the conversation they’d had with Lark again in their head. They should’ve been able to suppress their anger for the sake of group harmony and they shouldn’t have lost control of their magic. That whole talk had just ended up a dog’s breakfast.

Was that really their fault though? This was the first time they had ever been able to do magic at all, they didn’t know how it worked! And didn’t they have a right to be angry at Lark by now? They  _ could  _ work with Lark and all his faults easily if only Lark was willing to meet them halfway. All they had asked for was an apology! Maybe Lark needed to sacrifice his pride sometime. Asshole.

Things would be a lot easier if Finch didn’t have a crush on him but behold the cards that fate dealt. Thanks a fucking bunch, universe.

The hallway splintering off from the living room was dark and narrow, no wallpaper on the walls but an intricately patterned carpet lining the floor. There was just one door at the end of the hallway. The door itself was made of a very dark wood, but there was a small crooked sign hammered into it painted a lighter shade of grey. Finch couldn’t really read the words fully but once again, they recognised them as Terry Junior. The sign looked newer than the rest of the door, but the paint was peeling in places.

Finch chipped away at some of the peeling paint and found some sign of different letters underneath the top layer. Weird.

TJ had been staying here at some point, maybe this was his bedroom?

They twisted the ornate door knob and carefully pushed the door open. It creaked on its hinges, though it opened with little resistance. 

The room was similar to the rest of the tower in that it looked exactly as Finch would picture a bedroom designed by a vampire. Black damask wallpaper, dark oak floorboards, worn but elegant black furniture. A grand four poster bed was the most impressive looking piece in the room, its headboard pushed against the back wall. The bed was made, though not very neatly. 

Finch couldn’t help but gasp as they caught sight of the writing desk off to the side of the room. Sitting there with just a thin layer of dust on the screen was a perfectly good undamaged phone. They rushed over to it.

Finch had no idea why they had assumed phones would work here before, but Lark had confirmed sometime on the ride here that they did indeed work just fine. 

They scrambled to pick up the phone and press the power button. No matter how many times they pressed, the screen remained black. Dead as a doornail. They really should’ve expected that. They groaned at their defeat, but pocketed the phone regardless in case there was anything on it that TJ might have wanted to keep but hadn’t backed up anywhere. 

Still, maybe TJ had left some other stuff behind too. Lark needed clothes not covered in blood for one. The large wardrobe beside the desk had a piece of paper attached to one of the doors. A rough sketch of a man was drawn on the page, a knife, like the ones Finch had seen down in the dining room, stabbing through him to attach the sheet to the wood. Obviously baby Terry had a  _ lot _ of stuff he was working through.

Finch threw open the doors. They half expected the clothes inside to be eaten by moths, but there was the same lack of life here as there was anywhere else in the tower. A small sports bag was tucked into the bottom of the wardrobe, a basic soccer uniform inside. Terry had evidently been a pretty tall kid or had been expected to grow into his clothes, because they could easily fit Lark now with just a little bit of stretch. They were loose enough that Lark wouldn’t notice them being a size or two too small anyway.

There were other clothes in the wardrobe too. Not Earth sports gear though. This was some baby vampire shit. It was almost cute, imagining the high collars and capes and silk on a smaller Terry. Finch looked between the fantasy gear and the soccer uniform.

There was one shirt in particular that had a loose ruffled cravat sewn into the collar of the shirt itself that Finch was sure Lark would hate. He seemed like he would like capes, but the high collar on one of them just  _ had  _ to be guaranteed to quickly become the most annoying thing in the world and the way it needed a stiff under jacket to actually stay on the shoulders? Irritating for sure.

Lark would definitely prefer the soccer uniform.

Finch took the sports bag, and spilled out the Earth clothes before stuffing the vampires outfit inside. They could be petty. Just a little bit, as a treat.

They threw the bag strap over their shoulder and left the room behind.

They went upstairs, but skipped by the door they heard muffled voices behind. Lark could come to  _ them,  _ not the other way around.

Finch skipped past the final door when they saw light creeping into the hallway from further up the stairs, and continued upwards to the very top of the tower. It opened out into a large balcony. The last light of day was slowly slipping behind the horizon, the sky draining the sunset and leaving behind a purple curtain of colour to trail behind the band of orange. 

Finch sat themselves down on the wall at the far end of the balcony, letting their legs trail down into the empty air beneath them. They had always enjoyed the small shot of adrenaline that came with being in high places. The good kind of fear.

Finch took off the bag and placed it to their side before settling their eyes on the narrowing rays of sunlight. The sky was drifting from purple to night now, navy and royal blue painted across the sky. They took a breath, and it felt like the first time they’d breathed all day.

The peace was broken when the door to the balcony opened again behind them. A single set of footsteps made their way over to them, and Finch didn’t have to look back to know they were Lark’s.

Lark settled down next to Finch, sitting cross-legged on the cold stone of the balcony and looking at them expectantly. Finch turned, but didn’t speak first.

Lark seemingly didn’t want to be the first to talk either, but broke quickly. “This is an Oak-Garcia Feelings Jam so just be quiet and listen.” Lark waited a moment before continuing, “I think I… may have made an error.”

“Oh?” Finch replied noncommittally.

“I have displayed a trend of… reacting inappropriately. And I’m not as great a friend as I am a warrior. And I… apologise. There is more to the life of a fighter than the fighting, I should also be equally skilled at maintaining my alliances.”

Finch smiled. “I’m your friend?”

“Most  _ definitely  _ not, I still detest you.” He shot back quickly. “Maybe, I detest you as a friend though. Our enemyship can continue once we return to Earth. The enemy of my enemy  _ is  _ my friend, we need to stay close allies if we wish to survive.”

“Sure. Once we get back to Earth, I’ll happily kick your ass in a fight again.”

“I  _ let  _ you win that fight.”

“Of course.”

“I did!”

Finch laughed. “... I’m sorry I lost control of my magic back there though. I’m in need of some practise, clearly.”

“ _ Obviously…  _ but it looked pretty cool though.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been a rad moment if you weren’t caught in the middle of it all.”

Lark waved away the statement. “I barely felt a thing.”

Finch let the lull in the conversation drag a little before they changed the topic. “Nobody was here, what do we do now? Wait for Erin to find something?”

“Finding the others isn’t going to stop the world borders being torn apart, that’s why we were pulled into this world in the first place. Tempest thinks… I have this power but it’s all locked up in my head? Tempest thinks something in this city called Night Falls can help  _ un _ lock it.”

“And you think you can fix things after that?”

“Of course!”

Finch wanted to believe him, but Lark had a tendency to overestimate his own abilities. Finding the others needed to be their top priority in case things didn’t work out. “Alright… but if Erin  _ does  _ find something-?”

“Then yes, yes, we’ll grab them before continuing on our path. I haven’t forgotten about them.”

Finch sighed. “It would be nice to have them here with us.”

Lark held a hand to his chest in mock offence. “Am I, Lark Oak-Garcia, not enough for you?”

Finch laughed. “As annoying as you are, I  _ am _ glad that I’m with you.”

“Well, obviously. You’d be dead if I didn’t rescue you.”

“ _ Sure.  _ But also just… it’s nice not being alone against all this. If we had less reasons for fighting, we’d be perfect fantasy travel partners.”

Lark was silent for a long while, and for a brief moment, Finch wondered if they had said something wrong. 

“You aren’t the same as Sparrow… but you are... a reasonably acceptable replacement companion.”

“Thanks, Lark.” It almost sounded sarcastic, but Finch meant it. Lark wasn’t the best at compliments, but Finch could read between the lines to find the deeper sentiment underneath. 

They obviously couldn’t just get over what Lark had done. If this had happened back on Earth, Finch would’ve avoided them for a  _ good  _ while until they were ready to hear from him. But things weren’t that simple here. It was clearly life or death in Faerun, they didn’t have time for arguing. They needed to trust each other, Finch could set aside their grievances for a later time for the sake of survival. Having each other’s backs was the most important thing, and Finch was confident they could trust Lark with that at least. The rest was a work in progress.

“I found you some clothes by the way.”

Lark perked up. “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s all… weird gothic stuff? But better than going around all covered in blood.”

“Hmm, I suppose it  _ would  _ be a lot harder to gain an audience with a king like that…”

Finch reached to the bag by their side and passed it to Lark. “We’re meeting up with a king?”

“A follower of the god that runs through my veins. Tempest is too, so it won’t be too hard to get her to do what we want in the future.”

Honestly, Finch didn’t want to know what the god thing was about right now. Something to do with the bad vibes Apollo felt? Probably. But they could worry about it later. Today had been a  _ lot,  _ they weren’t quite in the mood to broach another big topic like that.

“Still, a king? Maybe we should bring a guillotine.”

Lark grinned. “I’ve always wanted to see a guillotine in action.”

Finch wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.

Eventually, Lark dipped back downstairs to change, and came back out looking angry. He tugged at the cravat and shifted the cloak to find (and fail) a way to sit it comfortably on his shoulders. Lark wasn’t short by any means, but the clothes still fit slightly too big on him. Finch hadn’t even realised the outfit was more ill-fitting than the soccer uniform. Lark glared at them, standing awkwardly in the doorframe.

Finch put a hand to their mouth and laughed as they began to cross the balcony to him. “You look like a little kid on halloween.”

“Stop laughing! You picked this out on purpose.”

Finch didn’t stop laughing. “It was the only outfit there,” they lied quickly.

Lark muttered something to himself — all Finch could make out was “ _ stupid…” _ — as he wrapped his cloak around him to hide the rest of the outfit and walked forward to meet Finch halfway.

“I think it suits you,” Finch said, “very dramatic. A little egotistical?”

“I’m not egotistical!”

“No, of course not. You’re just perfect and better than everyone else.”

“Exactly. Glad we cleared that up.”

Finch chuckled, their shoulders shaking as they laughed. “You’ll get used to it. Maybe the fancy outfit will get you into cosplay if we get back home.”

“ _ When _ we get back home,” Lark corrected, “I have a plan, remember? Ultra genius hero of the year over here!”

“Sure, sure. Let’s just get some rest before we head off tomorrow.”

Lark scoffed. “Well, maybe  _ you  _ need rest.”

Finch pulled a face to let him know he wasn’t fooling anybody.

“ _ Fine.  _ I suppose may _ haps  _ I could  _ possibly _ need to  _ maybe _ recharge my energy too.”

“That’s the spirit… race you to the living room?”

Lark grinned wide. “Is it even a race when there’s no competition at play?”

“No competition because you’re so slow? Nice that you’re so honest with yourself.”

“I was  _ obviously  _ referring to you when I said there was no competition.”

“Because I’m so much faster than you? I agree.”

“No! Because you’re slow!”

“Sure, okay. Let’s just-  _ ThreeTwoOneGo.” _

Finch lunged forward into a sprint and Lark yelled after them.

“You cheated!!”

Finch laughed again, hard and loud and more than a little cocky. 

They had a lot of shit to worry about. They still needed to work on things with Lark, they needed to figure out how the hell magic worked, they needed to unlock some hidden part of Lark’s mind so he could make sure people didn’t accidentally fall into Faerun again, and they needed to get home.

But it was nice, just for a moment, to forget all about that. To be childish enough to set themself on winning this race and shoving it in Lark’s stupid face. 

Night fell and Finch was ready to face the next day like they weren’t before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was SO close to throwing in something about terry sr’s corpse but this is a cooldown so i’ll leave finch alone for ONE chapter. this is all you get
> 
> lark is NOT forgiven (and finch has not forgiven him), but i’ll punch him in the face more later so at least it’ll be like karma or something


End file.
